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"Isabelle!" A feminine voice called out my name and I swiftly turned around. Lori, a little unexpected but that's not a bad thing.

"Yeah?" She looked at me with concern etched in her features; she most likely caught me in a state of distraction by my own thoughts…

"You really going with them back to Atlanta?" She asked, and I tried my best to not roll my eyes. If I didn't noticed the similarity between her and Rick before, I sure as hell did now.

"Yes…" I began, waiting for her to respond. No response, so I continued with a hint of suspicion in my tone, "Why?"

"It's just…you and Rick just got here."

I gave her a smile as a way to assure her, "I understand. Believe me, I've already gotten this talk, but I know what I'm doing."

I stood there awkwardly waiting for a response, and I didn't want to rush her or anything but I was pretty sure at the moment that the guys were waiting on me to leave.

I was about to turn and head to the truck when she spoke up again, "Isabelle, I've heard a lot of good things about you. It'd be a shame for it to all go to waste – be safe out there."

"Thanks." I managed to say, I wasn't sure how to exactly react but that was the only phrase that really came to mind. However, I genuinely appreciated her concern. I hope I didn't come off as immature.

I made my way over to the box truck where Daryl, Glenn, T-Dog, and Rick were waiting for me.

"What's the damn hold up?" Daryl sneered, but I ignored him and turned to Rick instead, "Sorry, Lori needed to tell me something…"

He grabbed my hand, "Don't worry about it," he paused, "Are you sure about this?"

I squeezed his hand and gave a reassuring smile, "Yes I'm sure, Rick."

"You can back down anytime you want, Isabelle."

I rolled my eyes. "I want to go. Now shut up and let's get going."

Rick took the wheel and Glenn hopped in right next to him, while the rest of us jumped in the back.


The ride was not only bumpy, but quiet. Nobody wanted to talk and that was understandable since I can't imagine anyone really being excited over having to rescue the asshole racist man – no boy – known as Merle.

When we arrived back in the heart of Atlanta it was eerily silent as usual. Glenn tried his best to get us as close as possible to the building Merle was left behind without alerting any hordes of walkers nearby. We finally parked about a few blocks away and walked the rest of the way.

On the way to the building I was really hoping to run into a liquor shop since I don't think people would've flocked there after hearing the shit news. Actually now that I think of it, they probably did, I know I would've. Well there go my chances of getting one last drink or cigarettes or something.

There were a couple random walkers roaming around here and there, but we managed to avoid them. We saw the building about a block away, so Glenn led the way and made a mad dash to the front. I quickly followed and we entered through the broken display window of the boutique we were in yesterday, this did not look good at all.

Daryl, Rick, and T-Dog met us at the top of the stairs, and Daryl pushed past us anxiously to cut open the chain on the door. He kept calling Merle's name and I was starting to get anxious of him alerting any walkers up there.

The chain finally broke and Daryl shoved the door open to run to the pipe Merle was cuffed to.

"Merle! Merle!" I let the others go in front of me because I didn't want to look at him even if he was there.

"No! No!" I heard Daryl's voice crack from yelling, and I just cringed because it didn't sound good from his tone.

I got to the bottom of the steps and tried to see what Daryl was screaming about, but before I could even do or say anything he immediately pointed his crossbow at T-Dog, only for Rick to pull his gun out and aim it at Daryl's head.

"Jesus fuck we can't fall apart now!" I shouted, but the situation remained tense. I looked down and saw Merle's hand, the handcuff still attached to the pipe with a bloody saw nearby.

"I won't hesitate, I don't care if every walker in the city hears it." Rick threatened and I could feel my palms getting sweatier, hoping Daryl would calm down.

He put the crossbow down and sighed, "Ya got a doo rag or something?'

I exhaled, it was, well not amazing or anything, but a hell of a lot calmer. I stepped over to the edge of the building to view the area and make sure there weren't going to be any surprise attacks soon.

When I turned back around, I saw Daryl take a handkerchief and wrap the hand up, and then begin to follow the small blood trail. I quietly followed but stayed in the back behind T-Dog and when we entered the building I lightly put my hand on T-Dog's shoulder, hoping he'd get what I was trying to say – that I was there for him if he needed it. He just nodded and we continued down the stairs.

Daryl stayed ahead but stopped when we entered the lobby, I heard he and Rick investigate the blood trail and the two dead walkers but I tuned it out to listen for anything in the behind or around us.

Daryl's shouts for Merle echoed through the building, which only made me more nervous to check out the other rooms. Thank god Rick noticed, "We're not the only ones here!" He hissed at Daryl, but Daryl only shrugged and kept moving along and repeating his brother's name.

We entered a small room, some sort of kitchen that also had some cleaning supplies, and I pointed out the still lit stove. I saw the iron by the stove and gagged when I noticed the burnt skin still on it. And the smell…of burnt flesh. I thought I'd gotten used to it now, shit was I wrong. So wrong…

"He cauterized the wound," Rick said to Daryl. Tough son of a bitch.

"Told you he was tough, only person who could kill Merle is Merle." Daryl replied before turning his attention to the broken window in the back of the room.

I guess this was some sort of relief for T-Dog because now he knew that Merle wasn't dead, but then again, that made me nervous since he's still alive and he's going to want some kind of revenge against us. I don't – I can't even think about that kind of shit right now. Stay focused on just finding something, Isabelle.

I leaned out the broken window, careful of the glass around the pane, and looked around for any possible clues of where Merle went. There was a bloody rag just outside the window, but that seemed to be the end of the trail. Where the hell could he have gone? I can't imagine there being any place to hide out for long out there and surviving long enough to get out of Atlanta just seems…unlikely. Really unlikely, actually, I just can't see it happening with any sort of handicap.

"- what are his odds of surviving out there?" I overheard T-Dog ask, oh boy.

"No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks," Daryl spat back before turning back to be face to face with Rick, "You couldn't kill him, I ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard."

"Will you give it a damn rest already?" I scoffed at Daryl and could feel his anger being directed at me now but it didn't stop me, "We get it, he's a tough son of a bitch and you're upset, but stop fucking making us the villain when your – yes your brother – was a threat to the whole group!"

"Nobody asked you, Bella," he mocked, "why the hell you here anyways?"

Fuck that nickname. "Go fuck yourse-"

"Enough already!" Rick interrupted and stepped between us and kept his focus on Daryl, "She's here because she wanted to help."

Daryl maintained his eye contact and scoffed in his face, "I don't need your guys' help, I'll go find him my damn self."

Rick reached for his shoulder but Daryl only shook him off, "Get your damn hands off me!" He shouted but Rick kept his cool, "You need to slow the hell down. He's family, I get that. We can only find him and get out of here safe if we stick together and keep a level head."

Please just agree already. Please just agree. Please.

He finally responded, "I could do that."

I let out a sigh of relief and hoped we could stay level headed enough to get out of here alive. I couldn't care less about Daryl hating me after that, as long as we can keep the peace right now and no one gets shot with a bullet or arrow or whatever.

"Only if we get those guns first, no way I'm going through Atlanta with just my good intentions." T-Dog said and Glenn nodded in agreement.

Daryl cracked a small smile, "Sounds good to me." That honestly shocked the hell out of me. I didn't even know that it was possible for Daryl to cooperate.


We'd moved to another room to outline a plan to get the guns and it was mostly Glenn and Rick doing the talking.

Glenn had drawn a simple outline of the city and gave us his plan, he'd basically have Daryl wait at the alley for him while he'd run to the tank which was less than a block away from the alley and he'd grab the guns.

"And us? We're not going to wait inside for you two." Rick told him, with concern lingering in his voice.

"I know, I know," Glenn replied with a cocky attitude that I'd grown to admire, "You guys will be in this alley." He pointed on his diagram to an alley…two blocks away?

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Two blocks away, Glenn?"

"Yeah, two blocks. If I can't go back to Daryl, I have to keep going forward to you guys. I'll be watched on all sides when I'm out there. When I get the guns, we'll meet back here."

Daryl cut in, "Hey kid, what'd you do before all of this?"

Glenn hesitated, I swear he needs a drink or two to relax, "I delivered pizza…why?"

"Probably asked since you know every shortcut in Atlanta." I added in while shrugging.

"Right. Okay, well, let's just get going now." He jumped up and headed to the ladder that led to the alley, Daryl followed behind.

The three of us went the opposite way and went down a different ladder silently, hoping to avoid any walkers. Rick had his gun gripped tightly in one hand and led the way down the alley. We knew when Glenn was going for the bag when we heard the clink of the metal fence being opened and I held my breath hoping nothing bad would happen.

All I could hear was the shuffling of several walkers, a couple groans and hisses here and then…until I started to hear a guy yelling in…Spanish?

"Ayudame! Don't shoot! Don't shoot me!" (Help me!) The guy yelled, but we had to stay where we were so we wouldn't alert them.

"Fucking shut up already," I muttered under my breath.

The idiot yelled again, this time twice and we didn't hesitate to run out of the alley. Fuck it.

We rounded the corner behind the building so we didn't have to run into the walkers. I could hear the kid getting silenced; some screaming and a car driving off so I picked up the pace and found Daryl beating some wannabe thug kid.

That wasn't my concern though, where the shit was Glenn?

Rick ran ahead and pulled him off while Daryl kept shouting at the kid or teenager (he looked young), "They took the Glenn! Those sons of bitches took Glenn!"

Rick kept holding him back while Daryl continued to threaten the kid, "I'm gonna stomp your ass!"

"Rick we're cut off!" I shouted to Rick, eyeing the gate that was beginning to look uncomfortably fragile all of a sudden.

"Get to the lab!" He ordered us, and T-Dog dragged the kid with us as we ran back. I felt a pit sink in my stomach not knowing where Glenn was…


What a stubborn little fuck. He didn't want to answer Rick's questions, instead of snapping back with insults in Spanish, completely ignorant of the fact that that was my first language.

T-Dog shook his head, probably realized we weren't getting anywhere with this little asshole, "Jesus, what the hell happened back there?"

Daryl sighed in frustration before pacing the room, "I told you, this little turd started yelling then his douchebag friends jumped me."

"You jumped me first, puto." The kid shot back and I was practically beyond fed up, "Cállate lo pendejo, quiero que usted acaba de responder a nuestra pregunta y díganos que ustedes son." I paused and he didn't even twitch, "Si me digas eso, puedes ir con tus hermanos, no tiene que ser difícil."(Shut up you idiot, I just want you to answer our question and tell us who you are. If you tell me that you can go back to your brothers, you don't have to be difficult.)

Everyone looked at me like I grew a second head, "It's – ah – my first language…" I mumbled before returning to speak with this punk ass.

"No tengo que hablar contigo, puta." (I don't have to talk to you, whore.) He shot back and I sighed in frustration, "Estoy tratando de ayudarte, trabaje conmigo por favor." (I'm trying to help you, work with me please.)

"He was screaming at me about his brother like it was my damn fault or some shit." I guess he decided it'd be better to speak in a language everyone could understand.

Daryl continued to pace around the room, "These assholes took Glenn, could've taken Merle too!"

And the prick laughed. He fucking laughed. I wish he kept his mouth shut and not because of him annoying me but what Daryl would do to him. Ignoring any sort of common sense, he continued, "Merle? What kind of hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle." At this point I could only see thing ending one of two ways, either the kid folds and tells us everything or his teeth end up everywhere in a bloody mess…

This kid was lucky as hell that Rick was there to hold Daryl back from kicking his front teeth out. I know I would've been happier than a pig rolling in shit had I been able to witness that. Shit I would've even given Daryl a medal.

On the other hand, at least the little punk bitch was beginning to look a little nervous. Maybe we'd get information sooner than we thought we would.

Daryl went to Glenn's bag and reached inside, I had a good feeling he was going to grab what I think he was going to grab and because of this I couldn't keep the smug look off my face.

"Wanna see what happened to the last guy who pissed me off?" Daryl untied the handkerchief and pulled out the severed hand, only to toss it in the lap of the sweating kid, which in turn caused him to pretty much dance and jump out of his seat.

I really wanted to cheer him on when he tackled the kid to choke him and threaten him more, but the fun ended when Rick pulled him off once again.

Rick stepped in this time, "The men you were with took our friend, we just want to meet them to work something out." He kept a calm head, and as much as I wanted to see this kids face kicked in, I still enjoyed how diplomatic my baby could be. Errr…did I say my baby? I meant Rick.

I swear the kid was about to shit himself and he made eye contact with me; I guess he wanted my help now, but I shrugged, "No me mires, traté de ayudarle." (Don't look at me, I tried to help you.)

"You lost the only help you had, kid," Daryl picked up the hand and wrapped it up again while making sure the kid was watching closely, "Best you start telling us what we want to hear."

I'd never seen someone say so much so quickly.


The kid, Miguel, led the way towards the "base" where his friends were, and he was closely followed by Daryl. I'd imagine the kid was shaking the whole time, but I stayed behind the group just as before. T-Dog carried the bag of guns with him. Unfortunately my bag wasn't picked up but hopefully we can make a quick stop for it on the way back.

Rick stayed behind with me but kept a very close eye on the kid, even when we searched him for weapons. He gave me a slight nudge and I jumped, "I didn't know you spoke Spanish, Isabelle."

I shrugged, "Learn something new every day, I suppose." I gave a small grin and added, "I didn't think it'd be that big of a deal until now. If only my French would be useful…"

He scoffed, "You speak French too?"

"Forgot some of it, but yeah for the most part I do."

"Huh, well I'll have to hear that sometime…" He trailed off before going back to focusing on getting there.

"It's up ahead." Miguel pointed out while slowing down, "Why you slowing down kid?" Daryl questioned, raising his crossbow.

"Figured you putos would want to meet before meeting G."

"Watch the language." I warned.

"G?" Rick asked.

"Guillermo. The big man around here." Miguel answered.

T-Dog nodded, "He's right, we need to make a quick plan before getting there."

Rick handed a rifle to T-Dog and nodded without saying a word, I pretty much got the gist of it. T-Dog would overlook the interaction with a rifle (I'd probably join him) and Daryl and Rick would take Miguel to do a prisoner exchange.

T-Dog and I left to an old building that was just next to their base. I kept the gun Rick gave me before leaving the lab in my back pocket and had Glenn's bad slung over my shoulder. We both went up the stairs and kept a low head to make sure this 'Guillermo' or his douchebag crew wouldn't see us.

I stayed seated but T-Dog propped his elbow on the edge to aim the rifle at the men when they stepped out. I couldn't hear much but some mumbling here and there after hearing the door open. I heard Miguel plead and beg for a second but return to silence. Even if I didn't know what they were saying, I could tell the situation was very fragile.

"Come on man, just make the exchange please." I heard T-Dog mutter under his breath and I stood up next to him.

I saw Guillermo look up at us then return his look back to Rick after shrugging. Rick had a strong grip on his shotgun, as well as Daryl on his crossbow and their grips weren't loosening anytime soon.

I don't know what was said or even agreed on next, but one moment they're staring each other off and then the next Guillermo turned around and his men followed him back inside.

T-Dog lowered the rifle and looked at me, "This really don't look good." He said glumly.

Daryl, Rick, and Miguel shuffled disappointedly out of the courtyard and back to our building. The door creaked open and I heard Daryl shove Miguel to the floor out of annoyance, "Go down there with them, I'll keep an eye up here."

He didn't hesitate when he heard my tone and soon joined the others downstairs. I know this is the worst time to think this, but shit did I need some alone time to collect my thoughts. That and a shower would be pretty damn nice.


I apologize for taking so long to update, I've been insanely busy lately but summer started so hopefully I'll start shooting out updates. I have to ask again, where are all my readers? I want you lovelies back! I haven't gotten much feedback recently so hopefully it's I'm doing well with the story or it's so bad no one wants to say anything :P Regardless, I love hearing what you guys think!

Review time~

EmiliShadow: thank you for the OC love, I've always been nervous about making them because I always feel that everyone will hate them

Leyshla Gisel: I'm sorry for not updating soon enough :( I still love you though

Ventrille Bestion: Shane has always been a creep, and thanks for the love!

Alex Cloninger: thanks for the feedback, and when I get the time I'll be glad to see what you have!

TheDoctorHarkness: I hated Holden but I loved the style of that book, so thank you for the amazing compliment! I'm glad that you enjoy the scattered-ness, it's like that on purpose and not because I'm a shit writer or something (well that's debatable) and don't even worry about the incest thing, I'm surprised I've been able to pull it off :o

Padme4000: doesn't bother me that you're late because I always enjoy reading what you have to say!

I'm about to pass out (forgive any random minor plot holes or errors since i revised half asleep), so goodnight lovelies and I look forward to your thoughts & criticism!

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