A/N All characters belong to the writers and creators of The Walking Dead. Except those that arose from my own twisted imagination.
Chapter Eleven-Blood
Rick, Maggie, Oscar and Glenn watched Dani as she worked out her crude map of Woodbury. They would be going in the same way as before, through the woods, and would position themselves around the town, ready to strike right after nightfall. That part, they could do. It was Dani's idea of trying to go in alone that Rick had completely nixed.
"No. I don't care what you say. I'm not lettin' you go back in like that. It's too dangerous." Dani glared at him.
"Rick, I know what I'm talkin' about. They'll have to let me back in…" Rick cut her off.
"We're not discussing this anymore, alright? Now look, you can either do what I say or you stay here, you understand?" Dani raised her chin in defiance and looked him square in the eye.
"Fine. We'll do it your way." Something about the way she said it made Rick doubt she would honestly go along with them. He put his hand on her shoulder and she looked away.
"I know you're worried and I know you're scared. But we have to do this the right way. What did Daryl tell you last night, huh? That we need to follow a plan. And the plan you have, there's no way of controlling it. For all we know, you walk up to that wall and Merle or one of his boys puts a bullet in your head. What would that accomplish? Nothing. And how do you think Daryl would react knowing that you did something that stupid?" Dani finally met his eye.
"This is my fault Rick. I'm the reason he took off like that." Rick squeezed her shoulder and stepped back.
"There's no sense thinkin' like that now. We have one thing to do and that's to save Daryl and get him back here before those bastards know we've got him." He picked up a gun and held it out to her. "You take this only if you're gonna listen and follow orders. Otherwise, you can stay here and wait for us to get back." Danielle pursed her lips and took the gun. Rick nodded at her and looked at the rest of the group.
"Alright. Let's get going."
Daryl fought to stay awake in the room after Merle had left him. He wasn't sure what he was seeing was real or if he was dreaming again. He kept seeing and talking to people in the room with him. The Governor. Merle. His father. Rick. Glenn. T-Dog. Carol. Oscar. Hershel. Jim. Dani.
Dani came to him again and again. Knelt beside him and took his hand. She gently touched his hair and pressed her forehead against his. He could feel her breath on his face.
"It's ok Mountain Man. You just hang on. We're comin', you hear me? We're comin' for you. But you have to keep fightin'. I didn't give up on you. Don't you dare give up on me." He could feel the hand on his face. Feel her lips on his forehead. And then she was gone. He opened his eyes and struggled with the darkness. This time, he could see someone in the shadows. Someone real.
"Dani," he whispered. "Where are…" The person quickly moved over to him and knelt beside him. They checked his head and then helped him to his feet. He struggled to focus on their face. When he did, he saw things clearly for the first time since meeting with the Governor.
"You. What the hell…" Michonne cut him off.
"No time for that. We've got to get out of here." She put his arm over her shoulder and started walking him out the door. He blinked in the bright light and almost stumbled over a body on the floor. Michonne held him up and kept him walking.
"I slit their throats. They took my sword." She raised her hand and held up a wicked looking hunting knife glistening with blood. "This is all I've got now. If you see a gun, you best grab it." He nodded and pushed away from her, determined to walk on his own. He took two steps and fell to his knees, dizzy. She tried to help him up but he brushed her off.
"I ain't no cripple. I can do this my goddamn self." Michonne pursed her lips and hauled him to his feet.
"We don't have time for this macho bullshit. If you want out of here, you best let me help you. They'll be coming back for you soon. I heard them talkin' when they brought you in. They're going to set you up in that arena, let those walkers feed on you while everyone watches. They're gonna make an example of you and then take you back to the prison after you turn and set you loose." Daryl stopped and pulled away from her and limped quickly back to the body they had just passed. He knelt down and picked up the assault rifle, checked the magazine and got back to his feet. His eyes were cold.
"Let's go if we're doin' this." Michonne nodded and they made their way to the front of the building. Michonne was worried about the lack of security they had encountered.
"They only had four guards for two people. That makes no sense. Unless that means they're expecting the attack to come from the outside, not in here." Daryl leaned back against the wall. His vision was not improving. In fact, he kept seeing double. He could deal with the pain in his leg but he couldn't do this if he couldn't see. Michonne turned and saw him fading.
"You're not gonna make it if you can't pull it together. And I'm getting out of here this time. I'm not waitin' on someone who can't fend for themselves. I did that last time and that's how I got caught." She ducked down as someone passed outside. Daryl watched her.
"What do you mean last time?" Michonne checked the window and ducked back down on the floor.
"Last time, when y'all got your people out, I went lookin' for the Governor. I ended up followin' your brother to his place and found out why it was so easy to get in here. There were about fifteen of his guys in there, drinkin', doing lord knows what. He left the door open and I watched him drag a guy out of the back room, yellin' at him that he let y'all get away. They loaded up and took off after you, didn't even see me. I went to follow but I heard crying in the apartment. I walked in and found a woman tied up on the bed, half naked, beaten, barely conscious." Daryl flinched as he realized she was talking about Danielle. "I cut her free, got her dressed and tried to help her out. I figured, she'd do better with your people, not these bastards. But she couldn't walk and she kept muttering a name, Abigail I think. We got caught right beyond the wall. They took my sword. I don't know what happened to her. They probably killed her." Daryl pulled himself up.
"She got away. Made it to the prison. She's safe." Michonne nodded.
"Is her name Dani? That the one you was talkin' to back there?" Daryl didn't answer. Instead he peeked out the window. He could see two people across the street but no one on their side.
"We're clear." Michonne nodded and opened the door. She slipped out first with Daryl right behind her. They stayed close to the building, ducking quickly into a nearby doorway. Michonne pointed towards the wall where five men stood guard. Daryl swore and looked out of the doorway towards the street. He remembered an alley leading behind the building. He motioned for Michonne to follow and they quickly made it to the alley. Once there, Daryl's leg buckled and he went down. He gritted his teeth tried to stand but his leg couldn't support his weight. Michonne, frustrated, ran to the end of the alley to check their access to the wall. When she returned, Daryl was walking but holding on to the wall for support. Michonne shook her head.
"Even if you make it over the wall, the walkers in the woods will be all over you." Daryl glared at her.
"Then go. I ain't askin' you to stay. I can make it on my own." Michonne pursed her lips.
"Yes I can see that." She walked over and put his arm around her shoulder. "Let's go." Just as they made it to the back of the building, an explosion dropped them to the ground. Michonne was wide eyed.
"What the hell?" But Daryl recognized the sound.
"Flash grenades. Rick's here." He forced himself to his feet and limped back towards the street. Michonne quickly caught up to him.
"Where are you going?" Daryl didn't stop but fought against the pain in his leg to keep upright.
"Gonna let them know I'm here and provide some cover fire." He made it to the street and ducked back as two of the Woodbury guards ran towards the warehouse. He looked back out, holding his rifle at the ready. On the wall, he saw a figure firing into the crowd. Two more people were kneeling on the ground, also returning fire from the Woodbury guards. Then he saw Rick come out of the warehouse under a cloud of smoke. The figure on the wall stopped firing and yelled to Rick.
"Where is he?" It was Dani. Shit. What was she doing here? He couldn't hear Rick's response as another blast of gunfire rang out. He stayed low and moved as quickly as he could manage towards Rick. He heard Michonne behind him but didn't look back. He could see Maggie and Oscar.
He didn't know Merle was behind him until his brother hauled him to his feet by the neck.
After fighting through the hordes of walkers to get to the Woodbury wall, Dani was afraid they would be too late. At the wall, it was easy to see that Woodbury hadn't learned their lesson. Rather than spreading out along the wall, the guards were clumped together, leaving large spans of the wall unprotected. Seeing this from the outside, Dani wondered how they managed to keep the walkers out.
Rick gave the orders and everyone rolled out to their positions. Dani hauled herself up into the tree nearest the wall. She crawled out on the furthest branch and dropped down quietly onto the ground. She felt the shock through her knee and she could have kicked herself for being that stupid. She looked over and saw Oscar positioning himself on an old bus. She saw Rick, Maggie and Glenn head into the warehouse and she held her breath. This was going down. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears.
She jumped when the flash grenade went off. Seeing movement on the ground, she climbed up on the bus and told Oscar to head down to the other end. She waited until she saw the first person with a raised gun, aimed and fired a shot through their head. Both she and Oscar traded gunfire with the guards until Maggie and Glen ran from the warehouse. They both crouched down by the bus and returned fire. Another smoke grenade exploded and Rick ran from the warehouse…without Daryl. She stood, knowing as she did it she made herself vulnerable but she almost didn't care.
"Where is he?" she called to Rick. She dropped back down as another burst of gunfire came from the Woodbury side. Rick made it behind the bus and climbed up to join her.
"He wasn't there. I'm sorry Dani but we may be too late." Danielle shook her head.
"No, he's here. He's just somewhere else, that's all." Rick fired on another guard.
"There were four dead bodies in there. Throats were slit." Danielle didn't respond. Daryl wasn't in there. They didn't know where he was. They were pinned down by the guards and the only way out was back to the woods. Suddenly, she saw a figure half walking, half crawling down the street. In the light of the flames used as street lamps, she could see it was Daryl. He disappeared back into the smoke. She pointed him out to Rick who jumped down from the bus and started to make his way to Daryl.
That was when the smoke cleared and Danielle could see Merle Dixon holding Daryl in a chokehold.
"Hold your fire!" He ordered his crew. The silence was almost unbearable. Merle walked Daryl towards Rick, who had stepped forward, hands raised.
"Merle, we don't want any trouble with this town." Merle laughed.
"Don't want trouble? This is the second time you've come in here with guns, killin' innocent people." Dani could see the Governor come out of a building with that blonde woman, Andrea. The Governor quickly started walking towards them. Dani got him in her sight and prepared to drop him the second he got in range. Rick kept trying to reason with Merle but the man wouldn't let go of Daryl. Suddenly, as Dani watched, a woman ran from the shadows and stabbed a knife through Merle's neck. He fell to the ground and Rick threw another flash grenade as he ran to grab Daryl. Dani focused back on the Governor, saw him raise his gun and she took the shot. He dropped to the ground and both Dani and Oscar hurried to help Rick with Daryl. The woman who stabbed Merle followed behind them. Dani could hear the guards behind them and couldn't even look at Daryl until they had hauled him over the wall. She heard gunfire and then Maggie and Glenn joined them. The group ran for the woods, heading for the car. They didn't know how long it would take for the crew from Woodbury to catch them but they weren't about to stay around to find out.
Daryl fought against the dizziness and pain and focused on trying to keep Merle from choking the life from him. He could see Rick and he could hear Merle's voice but he couldn't make out the words. Searching the wall, he saw Danielle. She had her gun trained on a target behind him. Just as he was about to blackout, Daryl felt a warm liquid pour over his head. He fell to the ground and was quickly helped to his feet by Rick. He heard another gunshot and then was being hoisted over the wall by Oscar and Rick. He couldn't see Danielle. He could hear voices around him but couldn't make them out. He closed his eyes.
He felt arms around him and jumped.
"Hey, you're ok," Dani's voice whispered in his ear. "We made it." Daryl opened his eyes and could see the night sky out the window of the car. He reached up and grabbed Dani's hand that was on his chest.
"You're real, aren't you?" He asked. She squeezed his hand.
"I'm real. You're ok." He relaxed against her.
Andrea had frozen when she saw Rick. Then she saw Merle holding a badly beaten Daryl. She was so confused. The Governor had told her that the ex-military group was attacking again but Rick's group did not fit that category. Then she saw Michonne run up behind Merle and stab him in the throat. Before Andrea could react, one of the women fired a shot at the Governor. As the woman jumped to the ground, Andrea could see it was Danielle. The woman with the little girl who had died from pneumonia. The Governor had said she was in seclusion, being taken care of for extreme depression and a suicide attempt following the death of her daughter. Now it seemed she was with Rick's group. She didn't have time to process what this meant when she realized Phillip was on the ground.
Andrea ran to him and rolled him over. The bullet had caught the corner of his eye but appeared to have just grazed him. She called over two of Merle's crew.
"Take him to the infirmary, now!" The guys carried the Governor, who was now moaning, over to the infirmary. Andrea walked over to Merle. He was still alive, trying to talk though his mouth was filled with blood. He grasped blindly in the air with his good hand and Andrea took it. Merle met her eyes and for the first time since the first night they were raided, Andrea saw compassion and fear in his eyes. He mouthed "Daryl" and Andrea nodded.
"Daryl is fine. Rick's got him now." Merle seemed to relax, closed his eyes and took one last breath. After he was gone, Andrea looked up at the group of men standing around her. One of the guys, Cash, knelt down by Merle.
"Is Merle dead?" Andrea nodded. "The Governor?" She shook her head.
"I think he'll live." She looked from Cash to the others. "What happened here? Why was Daryl here? And Michonne? I don't understand." No one spoke. Andrea stepped back when she felt Merle's hand twitch. She watched as his eyes opened, his lips curled back in the snarl of a walker. As he tried to get up, to reach for her, Cash put his boot on Merle's shoulder and shot him in the head. Merle was quiet once again. Cash knelt back down.
"That happened quick. Quicker than the others. Maybe this thing is getting' stronger." Andrea didn't answer. She was numb and she wanted answers. She got to her feet and headed to the infirmary to check on the Governor.
Back at the prison, Hershel checked Daryl's wounds. His leg was badly scraped, probably from getting pinned under the motorcycle. His jeans had probably saved him from further damage. Hershel suspected Daryl had torn a ligament or muscle in his knee and wrapped it tightly in a compression bandage. His head though was another story. Hershel knew right away he had a concussion and had ordered him to stay awake but in bed. Daryl tried to argue with him but Dani had kept her hand on his chest.
"Daryl, you stay down. You're hurt. We're gonna need you so you need to just rest and get better, understand?" He nodded, winced at the pain the slight movement brought, and laid back down. Carol brought in a pan of water and some rags. She patted Dani on the shoulder.
"I thought you might want to get him cleaned up." Carol turned and left with Hershel, leaving Dani and Daryl alone in the cell. Daryl watched her face as she cleaned Merle's blood from his face and hair.
"You don't have to do this if it bothers you." She paused and looked at him.
"A little blood don't bother me." She rinsed the rag and brought it back to his face. He grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"I mean sitting in this cell. I know you don't like small places." Dani smiled, looked around and shrugged.
"I can stand it if you can." She put his hand down and continued to clean his hair. "Now you just hush and let me get you taken care of, alright?" He closed his eyes and Dani immediately made him open them.
"None of that now. You can't sleep anymore until Hershel gives the ok." Daryl snorted.
"You know he's an animal doctor right? Told us himself. He's never been to med school." Dani was surprised but shrugged it off.
"I'm not gonna start questioning everything now. He's the only one with more experience than basic first aid so he's the goddamn trauma surgeon so far as I'm concerned." She finished cleaning off the blood and carried the pan and the rags out of the cell. When she returned, he was starting to doze off again.
"Daryl," he opened his eyes. "Dammit Daryl, what am I gonna have to do to keep you awake?" He smiled.
"Just keep talking. When I was in that room, I kept talking to people who weren't there. You were the only one that seemed real. And I kept going because you told me too." She took his hand and squeezed it.
"Daryl I'm so sorry about pushing you yesterday…" He shook his head slightly.
"Don't." Dani's eyes grew wet and she quickly brushed away the tears.
"It won't happen again Daryl. I promise." Daryl frowned and squeezed her hand again.
"Dani, I was stupid. I shouldn't have taken off like that, especially knowin' Merle was probably gonna be around." She reached up slowly and touched his face. He didn't flinch and his eyes never left hers. She leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. When she pulled back, he reached up and cupped her face in his hand.
"I ain't runnin' from you anymore," he told her as he brought his lips back to hers.