Welcome back to a new chapter.
So sad the prison-area is ending. It was one of my favourite parts. But let's not dwell on the past and move on ;)
Again thanks for all the support. You guys are awesome!

One of the watchtowers was on fire. The smoke underlined the dark intentions of Phillip, who stood on a tank like a captain on a ship. It looked as if they had built up a castle with their cars and the tank. How did he get here with an army? I was rooted to the spot, my eyes frozen to the frightening scene.

"Rick, come down here." He called for Rick. "We need to talk."

Rick, Daryl, Maggie, Beth, Sasha and her brother stood at the inner fence. Merle walked over to his brother and seemed relieved to find him. I slowly moved over to them in a ducking position to not get shot. In case they would shoot. And knowing Phillip, they would.

This wasn't happening … I stared at the bastard while getting closer to my group. I didn't even hear Rick's shouted words. The people around Phillip had guns and they pointed them at us. I had never seen this people, how could they threaten us? Had Phillip fed them the same lies he had told the Woodbury people? Suddenly a woman of his group opened a car and tore Hershel and Michonne out of it. "No." I gasped, straightened my back to get a better view. This was a nightmare and I needed to wake up now.

Daryl turned around and found my eyes. He ran over to me and pushed me behind some barrier to hide. "It's too late." I whispered and came out of the hiding. "He knows I am alive."

Daryl's muscles were tensed. "He won't put a finger on ya."

Hershel and Michonne were put on their knees in front of Phillip. It looked like he wanted them to be executed. "We have to do something."

"I know." He replied lowly and we walked towards Rick and the others who had gathered outside the cell block.

"I am not making the decisions anymore." Rick screamed a little helpless. This wasn't the man anymore who sacrificed lives for the group.

"You are making a decision today. Come down here and let's have a talk." He was acting all cool, knowing he had the power to the take our lives.

Rick looked to Daryl who nodded. Rick softly took his son in his arms and hugged him, before he went down into the yard.

Sasha who was still not at her best looked to Daryl. He walked over to her. "We'll go through the admin building, through the woods like we planned." So there had been a plan … he had a plan when that psycho would come back. "They are in the majority."

I looked back into the yard. Rick was almost at the fence. Phillip was still on the tank, suddenly he waved our direction. Could he see me from there? Daryl took my hand and pushed me behind him while he still talked to Sasha. "Listen up Ella!" He talked on to Sasha. She was all in the plan, talking about a bus and supply rations.

"What if everything goes bad?" Tyrese asked. "How long do we wait?"

"As long as we have to." Daryl returned. And how long would that be? And what was I supposed to do? I should have listened to the plan Daryl had retold Sasha. But all I could think was how to kill Phillip. How to make it into the yard or close to shoot him?

As if Merle knew my thoughts, he pushed a riffle into my arms. I immediately looked through the riflescope. "I can shoot him right now."

"It's more than 50 yards." Merle stood next to me.

"No." Carl almost took the gun out of my hands. "My father is down there."

"Mine too." Beth stood next to Maggie who looked just as fearful as her younger sister.

Daryl took out a gun from one of the roll containers and handed it to Bob next to him. "Ya good?" What was going on between the two of them?

"Yeah." But Bob didn't sounded sure of himself.

Daryl began to hand out the other guns. I saw Jess standing behind Tyrese, ready to fight too. He took a gun and nodded towards me. Before I could return the gesture, Daryl stepped closer, handing me a small gun which I put into the back of my trousers. He looked down on me but didn't look back up. I followed his glance and saw the tip of the pregnancy test. I quickly pushed it deeper into my pants. I wanted to say something, but he pulled out something from his back and handed me my knife. He grabbed the back of my head, pulling me towards him and lacing a kiss on my forehead. "Be ready." I nodded and he looked to the yard still standing next to me. His features were hard, but there wasn't time for questions or talking. All we needed right now was a good shot. "I have to kill him." I said lowly to myself. Every part in me screamed for me to kill him. Maybe I could sneak out … the way I had just entered. I would be so easy to go now. Sneaking out again? ….That wouldn't end well … it never had. But this time was different. Right?

"We got to trust Rick." Daryl told us.

Carl was tensed. "What are they arguing about?" We couldn't hear a word. But no one lowered his gun, so the army of psychos still hadn't get what they came for.

"He wants the prison." I said.

"He wants us dead." Merle hissed.

"Maybe …" I wanted to go on, but kept the phrase to myself. Maybe if he thought I was pregnant with his child, he wouldn't go on … maybe he …

Merle gave me a slap in the back of my head. "There ain't no maybe!" I looked at him with mad eyes but he shook his head. "Don't ya dare do anything stupid."

Suddenly Maggie gasped loudly and I looked back to the fence. Phillip stood next to Hershel with Michonne's katana at his throat. I soaked in a deep breath … Hershel had never killed anyone … he was innocent. He was our rock.

"Daryl …" I whispered again. The tank was like a dark omen. This time we weren't prepared for a war like that. Daryl turned his head, again he looked at the pocket were the pregnancy test was hidden. But quickly looked up into my eyes. "I am glad I found you in the apocalypse." My voice was barely a whisper. "I wouldn't have survived without you." I had told him before, but I wanted him to know for sure. "You are all I need."

"It won't end here." He told me with such fierceness and I almost believed him.

"I lo…"

"You won't say it again before I told ya …" I crushed my lips on his to distract him and then turned quickly to the gate, but Daryl held my arm. "What do ya think ya'r doing?"

"If I tell him …" That I am pregnant … but I hesitated to go on … "I can make it stop."

"Ya not that pretty." Merle snarled next to me. "Get your head clear. No one can stop him."

Suddenly Beth screamed and fired. Shooting aroused when I realized Phillip had beheaded Hershel. "No!" I screamed. This can't be true … No, no Hershel. While the shooting around me arouse, I sank to my knees. I heard Beth crying and Maggie screaming. They had seen how their father got beheaded. I looked through the riflescope and saw Hershel crawling away. Was there a chance he was still alive or could survive? No I fired too. I needed to kill him, but as Merle had said, we were too far away. I pointed my gun at Phillip but didn't meet my target. There was a slight breeze. I had to calculate my next shot better.

While we were save behind our barriers, we could shoot some of Phillips army down. But they still had the tank which started to move our direction. It took down the fence easily. All of a sudden everything happened fast. The shooting, the tank, the army … I took in a deep breath and my next shot sent one man of Philips army down. I aimed more professional than the emotional shooting of Beth. We couldn't miss a single target, for we had not much ammo left. I took another deep breath, trying to see Phillip, but I didn't see him. And where the hell was Rick?

Merle who was right next to me fired more to the right. That's when I saw Rick behind the fallen down car. On my other side Daryl and Carl were still shooting. "Run for the bus." Suddenly Maggie and Beth were running backwards. Everyone who was out of ammo was running down around the next building. I should have better listened when Daryl talked about the plan to Sasha. Where exactly was that bus they had been talking about? Another explosion made me wince. I hoped there wasn't much gunfire left in the tank.

Another big shot from the tank detonated almost right next to us and sent me flying to the ground. Merle grabbed me and pushed me forward. "Daryl!" I screamed through the dust.

Daryl stood up and came running towards us. The tank was too close. In the run, Merle pushed me behind another barrier. "Get her to the bus." Daryl told Merle, who nodded and took my arm.

"No. I am not going anywhere without you." The tank was just a stone's throw away from us. Phillips army was duking behind it shooting at us. We had to run. "Please, Daryl …"

Merle suddenly turned and shot behind us. "Walkers!"

"We're surrounded." I shot the man getting closer.

"Get down." A familiar voice called. Daryl threw himself over me when something exploded. "Come on!" Jess appeared almost out of nothing. "We have to run for the woods. The bus is gone."

I grunted getting up all dizzy. "What was that?"

"Hand grenade." Jess pulled me up. "We got to go!" Jess shot an appearing zombie and pulled me along. I tried to fight but saw Merle nodding to his brother. And they ran after us. Was there some mysterious agreement between the two of them? I took one last glance to the field. Phillip was smashing his fists down. Was that Rick under him? This was my chance to kill him. I shoved Jess forward, getting free of his grab around my wrist and sprinted into the yard. While my sprint I took two men down. But before I could run any further, someone tackled me from the back.

"Ya fuckin' serious?" Merle picked me up. "Ya runnin' the wrong direction."

In the distance I saw Michonne killing Phillip. I had wanted to kill him, I had wanted to make him suffer … It should have been my revenge. Nevertheless, she had a disagreement with him too. There was almost as much hate and pain in her heart as was in mine.

She helped Rock get up. She had saved him, that's what counted. I looked back to Merle. "Where is Daryl?"

"Taking care of the tank." He held me by the arm.

Another explosion and cell block D was almost wrecked to its foundations. The tank was still moving. "We have to help Daryl."

"He can take care of himself."

"Merle … I can't go …" I tried, but he interrupted my words.

"Listen. I promised to keep ya safe." The pain in his voice wasn't for me. "We'll meet up." I stopped resisting his pulling and let him pull me along. I looked back when a hollow explosion made even Merle stop running. We stood close next to each other without being able to see what might have happened, but saw walkers making their way through the rundown fence into the yard we were standing in. If we wouldn't run faster, they would surround us.

"Merle, come on!" I took my knife and ran further. There was no point in dying here. Merle was on my heels. There were just a few walkers on our way to the woods. Nothing we couldn't handle. "Where do we meet up?"

We slowed down. "There is a river." He was out of breath. "A bridge where we had …" He stopped talking, maybe something had happened there.

"Where?" I wasn't interested in his quarrels with his brother, I just wanted to see him again. "Come on Merle, we need to get there."

Merle took the lead while we walked fast through the woods. "You know where you're walking right?!" Merle just grunted. He had been a hunter just like Daryl. I had seen them together at camp. Maybe that had been the only time I had really thought of Merle as the BIGGER brother. He had to know the way.

When we reached the bridge there was no Daryl in sight. Someone had built up a little ford on the bridge, but no human being was around. There were a few walkers strolling between the cars. Merle jumped onto a car on the right side and killed the walker next to him. "Let's clear this place." He jumped down from the car behind the barrier. He was kind of pale and his movements were slower than before. He must be out of breath. I watched him killing another walker easily, maybe he was just worried about his brother.

The walkers had been caged between the cars. Seemed they had been there a while without food. They were moving slow, even their reaction to our approach was merely noticeable.

I climbed over a car and helped him to kill the leftover walkers. "When do you think will he be here?"

"Do I look like I a wear a watch?" There were no more walkers left to kill so Merle repaired the barriers around us. Shoving around some wood, he looked as if he needed to be distracted.

I sat down on a broken truck, looking the direction we had come from. My eyes didn't leave the spot until I heard a grunting behind me. I turned to see Merle trying to hold on to a car. "Merle?" I jumped right down to him. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing sweet cheeks." When I got closer I could see he was bleeding.

"Merle you …"

"That's nothing …" He sat down on the ground. "I just need some rest." He laughed.

"Are you bit?!" I took a closer look at his arm.

"In your dreams." He pulled up his sleeve where a gunshot was visible. The flesh wound looked quite clean. "Shot went right through."

I was relieved. I ripped off my sleeve and bandaged his arm. "We need Her …" The sentence died in my mouth.

"There ain't no doctors around anymore."

"Bob … he had made RVs … he must know …" But where the hell was everybody? "Where was the bus going? Daryl said something about a bus." They must have had a meeting point.

"How much I love to disappoint ya …"

A rustling interrupted him. I took the gun out of the back of my jeans, just in case to be ready to defend our lives. "Daryl?" But there was no Daryl. "Jess?"

Jess walked out of the trees. "Hey there." He breathed hard. "Thank god you're alive."

Merle grunted next to me getting up. "Where 's my brother?"

Jess came closer, jumping over a car. "Ella! He hugged me. "I am so sorry."

"What?"

"The tank … Daryl …"

"What happened?" I screamed.

Merle wanted to push Jess away from us, but his arm was too injured and he screamed in pain. "Where is my brother?" He pressed through gritted teeth. He stood up, taking his gun. "How do ya know we're here?"

"He took my grenades and tried to blow up the tank. But everything went to fast …" He sighed. "Beth suddenly appeared and then … there was an explosion and …"

"Ya lying." Merle was all hate. "My brother …" Merle pointed his gun at Jess. I pushed his arm down.

"Daryl's grenade didn't kill the tank … but the tank did …"

"No." I cried turning to Jess again. Tears were already wetting my face. "No." Suddenly it was hard to breathe … I needed some air, I turned again to get out of here, but broke down to the ground next to Merle. No … No … No … Down on my knees crying, I didn't feel a thing but pain in my heart. I had never felt so heartbroken in my life. This couldn't be true, no.

I was awoke by warmth. When I opened my eyes it was dark but there was a fire right in front of me. I slowly sat up, still feeling the dried tears on my face. "Daryl." I still couldn't believe he was dead. But the aching in my heart made it more real than any other pain.

"Even the pain you felt for my loss?"

"What was that?" Who was that? I looked around and saw Jess sleeping almost close to me.

"Who are ya talkin' to?" Merle sat down next to me. The look on his face broke my heart even more. I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his chest. I thought he would scream at me, or hurt me, but he put an arm around me. "Sh…" I didn't realize I started crying again. I felt beyond broken.

I am so sorry.

I looked up. Merle looked into the flames and Jess was still sleeping. There was no one around … My grab around Merle loosened and we sat in silence.

I am sorry what had happened.

Was it possible?

It is …

"No …"

"What?" Merle turned to me again.

I shifted and sat next to him, my head on his shoulder. "He can't be dead."

"I don't trust words of that bastard. My brother never missed his target." Even he sounded credent, his face showed all the pain he felt. Without the drugs and alcohol – sober Merle was just as human as I was. He would never believe Daryl was dead until he would see his corpse. That's why he acted so calm. I would have thought he would run away, killing everything or everyone that would cross his path. Would get high or drunk …

There is always light in the dark. Seems this rant of a man is your safety now.

I shook my head. When my brother had died, his voice had been in my head … now that Daryl was supposed to be dead there was this voice again … did it mean that Daryl was really dead? My lips trembled, again tears started to escape my eyes. Merle put his arm around me again, pressing me into him and supporting my grief. He opened his mouth but didn't speak. I closed my eyes, recalling all the memories I got of Daryl. I saw him smiling at me through his shaggy hair. I locked the picture deep in my heart, with all the memories and feelings for Daryl.

So sad ... again there is a separation. The whole groub is scattered around the woods. I couldn't let Merle die at prison, he is one of my favs. So the two and Jess are on their one. Who knows what could happen ... but i hope we'll find out next week.
Have a good day and you are welcome to leave a review ;o) R&R