Danni regained consciousness lying on the grimy backseat of a car. She sat up, her wrists bound and sore, head pounding and got a look at the guy who'd smashed the butt of his gun into her skull. At first she couldn't believe she hadn't been able to fight him off; he wasn't that big, but she realized the element of surprise thwarted her. He waved her knife, gesturing, as he spoke from the passenger seat. "You woke up just in time."
They parked in front of another dilapidated clapboard house much like the one she'd been searching earlier. The run down structure was behind an abandoned gas station. The cloudburst had ended and a steady breeze moved in. She heard the rusty creaking of the service station's old sign above her as Tony dragged her from the car through the mud.
He hustled her up the porch steps and through the front door followed by his larger accomplice Dave. She had a second to notice the living room on her left. Three older white-haired men sat around in track suits and gold chains like Dave's, at a coffee table playing poker, smoking cigars. Two women probably the same age as the men hovered nearby looked at her suspiciously.
"What are you doing Tony?" One of the older women stopped him before he could pass.
"Shit." He muttered.
"Why do you have that girl tied up?"
He ignored the question.
"Why aren't you answering me? You're scaring me." The strong New Jersey accent matched Tony's.
"Look Ma, I'm doing what I have to. We need food, we need water. She's gonna be our ticket okay?"
His mother?
"Well, keep it down." She went on. "The children are upstairs and I don't want them seeing this." Her dark brown hair had faded blonde highlights growing out well past her gray roots overdue for a touch-up. She shook her head tsk-tsking him, large diamonds sparkling on her ear lobes.
"Jeez, Ma! Uncle Frankie looks like he needs a refill." He gestured to one of the card players who was holding a tumbler up, wanting her out of his business.
"Tony's right. Top me off Annette."
Danni noticed that some of Annette's acrylic nails had broken off as she poured scuro Kenthachy Italian whiskey into Frankie's glass.
"One more thing, keep your friends to the back of this house Tony. You know I don't like their language. They are scaring the children." She admonished.
Danni remained quiet and didn't fight. She observed the place and people to figure out their game. It was her best chance to escape. Stay calm and don't show fear; men smell fear.
Tony continued to advance her down the hall. He pushed her into a stale, dusty, cluttered room sending her down hard on the floor, unable to balance with her hands still tied behind her back.
He kicked her toward the wall where she awkwardly scrambled to a sitting position keeping him in front of her.
"I'm gonna give you a chance to tell me where your group is. I'm the reasonable one amongst my friends here so you tell me now and you don't have to meet any of them." A gold crucifix on a weighty chain hung over the collar of his blue ringer t-shirt as he leaned down to talk.
"If you want to find where we're staying so badly, why didn't you just follow us back when you saw us out in the woods? We wouldn't have even noticed."
"I'm asking the questions here." .
That's original. "This just seems so much more complicated."
He looked confused when he considered her words, then snapped back angrily and said, "One last chance, where are they?"
She was silent, so he dropped to the floor beside her. He smirked and pulled her trench knife from his pocket. He flipped it open and ran the blade lightly over her stomach, increasing pressure as she tightened each abdominal muscle against cold, sharp steel. The blade didn't pierce the skin but began to leave angry red drag marks over her tender pale flesh. As he traced one sparrow, he suddenly sliced across the bird, blood streaming over her hip bone. She winced and cried out making him laugh.
"One of my friends collects tattoos too. Only he takes them off of people. He's a hit man for the Martucci's back in Jersey, see, and a tattoo is like an i.d. Card these days. So, he made this up himself; pretty genius if you ask me, but, after cutting off the hands and the head of his marks he carves the tattoos right out of the bodies skin and all. Here's the best part: he keeps them. Puts them in jars of that formladhal...whatever you call that shit. A real sick bastard."
"Formaldehyde." She corrected him.
Tony was smiling. "He's right down the hall. He always wanted to try it on somebody still alive. You're gonna make his day."
She stared at the dusty floorboards, swallowing hard. Be smart. She curbed her instinct to kick and scream. He was waiting for her to lose it on him so he could really mess her up and hurt her badly. He was a textbook psychopath; she saw it in his eyes. Don't give him a reason, don't make him any angrier. He started to push the tip of the knife under her belt. She tilted her head back to stop a couple of tears that threatened to fall. Her eyes moved to the ceiling, where she watched a large black spider scurry across the cracked plaster. She remembered her dream; sitting on a porch, Daryl beside her, their son on his knee. Life wasn't supposed to end like this. Was it?
"Hey, pay attention!" He smacked the back of his hand hard across her cheek. Fuck crying now. Hair spilled loose from her ponytail and covered her face. The impact of his hand pissed her off. She bit her tongue, against the barrage of insults she wanted to unleash, to save her life. Controlled anger would serve her best now. Nothing was ending; she was just getting started.
"Thought you'd be more fun, a real spitfire. Guess not." He sounded disappointed, continuing to slowly and deliberately jab the knife under her belt not cutting yet, just pinching painfully.
She hoped that if she didn't fight, he'd get bored. Maybe if she acted passive, he'd be looser with security. If he didn't think he had to worry about her, he wouldn't. Then she could make her move. He was sick, but he sure wasn't smart.
... ... .. ... ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .
"Thought I'd find you here. Lying in the mud, crying like a little bitch. I notice you ain't been out lookin' for old Merle no more, but queenie? You giving up on her already too?"
"Shut up." Daryl didn't stand, just turned his body away from his brother, embarrassed by his tears. "How long you been standing there?" Are you really here?
The rain had moved out about twenty minutes before, but Daryl hadn't moved, feeling stunned.
"Long enough. Now get up." He kicked Daryl's leg.
"I lost her trail. Tracks end here."
"What, you think these are the mountains of Tibet?" He asked echoing Daryl's own remarks about Sophia. "This is Georgia boy. Keep looking."
"What do you care? Thought you'd be happy. Now its just me and you, like you said. Like you want."
Merle crouched down, his face level with Daryl's.
"I'm gonna tell you something and I'm only tellin' you this one time. You best never speak of it again little brother."
"I ain't in the mood for your bullshit right now, Merle."
"Every man gets himself pussy whipped at least once in his life. I mean really whipped little brother. Like you is now." Merle stood.
Daryl sprang to his feet and took a swing. Merle caught his arm. "I'm gonna let that one go seein' as how your head ain't right at the moment." He put both his hands on Daryl's shoulders. "Now settle down and listen to me." Daryl grunted and spit to the side.
"There is always that one woman, mmm, hmm, no doubt; that one woman whose gonna break through all you best defenses. You could be wearin' a Kevlar vest, military grade and she'd still get in. Hell, I been there."
"Don't believe that."
"Luanne. You remember Luanne Hartley?"
Daryl squinted. "She shot you."
"Yeah she did. Still got the scar on my shoulder."
"She torched your car."
"Yeah, she did that too." He was smiling at the memory.
"You two didn't do nothin' but fight and destroy each other's stuff."
"She gave me the best sex I ever had in my life hands down and was the only woman I ever thought about eating supper with before saying grace."
Daryl couldn't imagine Merle living with a woman, but he remembered him going back to Luanne time and time again. He never cheated on her when they were together either.
"That's the kind of whipped that still makes you feel like a man." Merle sighed, almost sounding wistful. "She was beautiful. Sometimes I miss that woman."
"Then why'd you leave?" Merle had joined the army when they were together.
"Knocked her up. She wanted to have it, I didn't. Signed up the day after she told me and shipped out a week later."
Daryl had to ask. 'What did she do?"
"Damned if I know. Never saw that woman again."
Merle could have a kid out there and he didn't even know.
"Don't look at me like that boy. I ain't exactly daddy material. Neither are you for that matter."
After a minute, Merle went on. "It's my own damn fault I lost that woman and I ain't never found another one come even close. I'm not sayin' I'd do it different if I had the chance to. But you don't need to lose queenie. That's the only reason I'm tellin' you this and you best never repeat it if you know what's good for you."
Daryl nodded.
"Dammit Daryl, what have I been teaching you all your life? You don't give up. Never have before and you ain't gonna start now. You get goin' and find her, or boy, I'll smack you so hard your kids'll come out behavin'."
"Where do I start looking?" Daryl asked. When Merle didn't answer, he turned to find his brother gone. "Merle?" he called. "Merle where you at?" He heard footsteps. He turned expecting to see his older brother, but his reflexes kicked in at the sight of a tall dark-haired guy, young, maybe eighteen, approaching him from the woods. Merle wasn't here. Merle was never here.
"Hey, man I don't want no trouble!" He said as Daryl pulled his knife and bent down for his cross-bow on the ground. He loaded an arrow, glaring at the kid.
"The hell you doin' out here then?"
"I'm just looking for my buddies. You seen 'em? Two guys. We left our car right here. At least I think it was here? It's gone."
His buddies, a car.
Daryl slammed the kid to the ground and aimed between his eyes, all his anger focused on wanting to kill this guy who probably had something to do with what happened to Danni.
"I said I don't want trouble!"
Suddenly, Daryl remembered the day in Atlanta when he'd wanted to stomp that Miguel kid and Danni had stopped him, knowing a live, captive witness was the only way they'd find Glenn. This kid was going to take him to her.
"Get up."
"Okay, okay."
"Where are your boys holed up?"
"I, I don't know. Tony did all the driving I got no sense of direction."
"Bullshit!" Daryl hit him hard across the face. "I said get up. Now move."
What Daryl did next went against every fiber of his being. He pushed the kid back into the woods and headed to the farm. He hated to admit it, but he needed help. Something told him this was bigger than he was. He couldn't take the chance that just rushing in on his own would be enough. He was too worried about her. His begrudging, burgeoning respect for Rick led him back to the group.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. .. . . .
As he shoved the kid toward the Greene's farmhouse, his bow pointed at the back of his head as it had been for the entire journey, Rick and Shane descended porch steps to meet him.
"Who the hell is this?" Shane looked at Daryl's prisoner who was trying to defend himself.
"I didn't do anything. I swear he's got it all wrong."
"Shut up!" Daryl roared at him. "This is Randall." He said the name with dripping disdain.
"Where is Danni?" Rick asked.
"That's what this prick is gonna tell us." Daryl kicked Randall in the small of his back pitching him into the dirt. "His boys ran across us in the woods and took her."
"Took her?" Rick understood the implications of the bigger threat that an opposing group could have on the safety of he farm.
"Want me to take a crack at him?" Shane offered.
"Man come on, I'm a good guy!" Randall continued to whine and cry. "This is all wrong." He shook his head.
"No I got this." Daryl said with finality. He grabbed Randall by the collar and pulled him back up, herding him toward the barn.
"We're here if you want us."
Daryl needed to hear those words from Rick though he'd never admit it.
... ... ... ... ... ... .. .. .. .. .
Daryl stalked the barn's dusty floor in front of Randall, tied to a chair. It had been at least a half hour and the kid had given him nothing.
Randall was breathing hard; pain and fear emanated from his every pore.
Daryl turned, gaining momentum and slugged the kid in the face hard enough to knock him to the ground chair and all. He pummeled his face repeatedly. There was no one here to stop him, to pull him away. Daryl had free range to rage and beat the shit out of him to get what he needed.
"I told you." Randall cried, his face swollen and bloody.
"You told me shit!" Daryl reached in and yanked Randall up by his shirt slamming him against the wall.
"Barely knew those guys. I met them on the road."
"How many in your group?"
He hesitated so Daryl pulled his knife.
No no, no-no-no, c'mon man!"
"He plunged the blade into the floor inches from the kid's leg and leaned into his face. "How many?"
"Ten, maybe twelve guys."
"Where?"
"I don't know, I swear. We were never in any place for more than one night."
Daryl retrieved his knife and stood.
"Scouting? Plan on staying local?"
"I keep telling you I don't know. They left me behind. Probably to just die in the woods. "
"Ever pick off scab?" Daryl pointed to a healing wound on the kid's arm. He dug the knife's point under the edge of the crusted skin.
"Start real slow at first then sooner or later you just gotta rip it off!"
"Okay! They have weapons. Heavy stuff, automatics. But I didn't do anything!"
"Your boys took my girl, probably gonna try to raid this farm. You just went along for the ride. You trying to tell me you're innocent?"
"Yes! These folks took me in, not just those guys; there's older men and women; kids too! They're not all like those guys. Thought I'd have a better chance with them, you know?" His face had darkened before he continued. "But, but we go out and scavenge, just the men." He got quiet, swallowed hard and went on, "One night we found this little campsite a man and his two daughters, teenagers you know, real young, real cute."
Daryl didn't like the way he said the last bit, he was too enthusiastic.
"Daddy had to watch while these guys, they ...and they didn't even kill 'em afterward."
Daryl knew exactly what they'd done. His gut churned, Danni was with them.
"They just made him watch, his own daughters. Then, just ...left them there." He saw the disgust and rage on Daryl's face directed at him and quickly added, "No, but I didn't, I didn't touch those girls."
Daryl kicked him viciously in his ribs.
"I swear I didn't." Please, you gotta believe me man, I'm not like that, I ain't like that." He began to cry. Daryl kicked harder,
"Please, please, you gotta believe me."
... ... ... ... ... .. .. . .. .. .
Daryl found Rick and the others at the campfire.
"That boy's got a gang. A dozen men and heavy artillery. He says they're at an abandoned gas station. Other side of the woods off the main road."
"Well, that would have to be Clinton's." Herschel said.
"Got a house behind it?"
"Yes, that's the one."
Carol saw Daryl's torn bloody knuckles as he gripped his crossbow over his shoulder.
"What did you do?" She asked.
"Had a little chat."
She turned away, looking disappointed in him.
"I gotta get Danni out of there. Another thing, they roll through here, you boys are dead. Our women? Gonna wish they were."
He turned to Herschel. "How do I find that place?"
"You are not going alone." Rick stated.
"I'll be fine."
"A dozen men, heavy artillery you said it yourself. What do you think you're gonna do?" Shane disdained him.
"Daryl we do this together. Danni is part of this group. We all want her back." Rick insisted.
Daryl kept his eyes on his boots. He knew he needed them, hell, that's why he brought the kid back here in the first place. He just couldn't ask for it. So when Rick offered he nodded to accept.
"Shane?" Rick asked knowing the bad blood between them.
"I'm in. Gotta protect the farm. Just stay out of my way." He looked straight at Daryl.
"Whatever, man." Daryl couldn't care about Shane at the moment.
Glenn and T-Dog made it clear they were going as well.
"That makes five of us." Rick said considering their odds.
"I'm coming too." Maggie announced.
"No way." Glenn admonished her. "You are staying right here."
"You can't stop me."
"But I can." Herschel announced..
"Daddy that girl is in trouble. I can't just sit around here."
She caught Daryl looking at her with a softness she'd never seen from him. But he agreed with Herschel. "No way. Listen to your dad. You ain't going anywhere near that group. Those guys that kid is with are a bunch of ...they're the worst kind."
Daryl turned from Maggie and looked at Rick unable to hold his words back. "Danni 's in real trouble." And it's my fault.
"We'll get her." Rick tried to reassure Daryl surprised at his candor.
While Herschel mapped out the route with Rick, Daryl headed up to his camp area to get his bike. Squirrel trotted out of the tent to meet him. He had a dead field mouse in his mouth and dropped it at Daryl's feet proudly. He crouched and picked up the kitten. "Good job."
Damn cat. What if you're all I have left of her.
He entered the tent to gather the rest of his arrows and his gun. He noticed her journal lying on the sleeping bag. He hesitated, then sat, opened it and started to read:
After almost losing him, I know how real this is. I never worried about him before yesterday. I forgot how much it can hurt to love someone this much.
Her handwriting was neat, precise with a right-hand slant. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but his eyes traveled further down the page.
Somehow, the world had to end for me to find my soul mate. I never wanted to live as much as I do now that death is so close every day. And its him. It's all because of him. I never needed anyone before, but I need him. I want him. I trust him. How did this happen to me?
Love, need, want. No one used words like that to describe him. It was always useless, stupid, good for nothing. As strange as it felt, relief flooded him; it was more than he'd let himself hope for. These were her private thoughts. She never said stuff like this out loud so he figured she really meant it. He felt wrong for reading, but he couldn't put the book down.
No one has ever made my body feel like he does. He fucks fear out of me. That's the only way I can say it. He makes me feel safe, safer than anyone ever has. I com every fucking time! It's unbelievable, twice the other night.
When the dreams started, I was afraid, but I knew we'd be together. Like this. He is a Leo and I'm a Sagittarius the two signs that make the best match. Best friends and lovers.
Daryl couldn't help but smile at her astrology shit.
The Empress and The Ace of Cups telling me I'll be pregnant scares the shit out of me, but as long as I'm with him it will be okay. How do I tell him? I should wait until I'm sure, but we've been stupid the past couple of times. He makes me forget everything.
He closed the book. Pregnant? He was not losing her now. He wasn't Merle.
As he exited the tent headed to his bike, Carol approached hesitantly."Daryl, are you okay?"
"Fine." He was defensive.
She didn't believe him. "What you did to that boy. It was_
"Don't tell me how to handle my business." He winced.
"I'm sorry about Danni, we'll get her back, but beating a kid, that's not you."
He looked at Carol with disbelief. "That easy, huh? Jesus, this whole damn thing is your fault!" He suddenly exploded angrily. "If you spent half your time minding your daughter's business instead of sticking your nose in everybody else's Sophia wouldn't be lost and Danni would be here now!"
"Go ahead." Carol said calmly, holding back tears but encouraging him to vent.
"Go ahead and what?" His tone was angry and defiant, tinged with disgust. "You're a real piece of work lady. Are you gonna make this about my daddy or some crap like that? You don't know jack." Suddenly he was pointing in her face.
"You're afraid cause you're alone. Got no husband, maybe no daughter anymore. You don't know what to do with yourself. You ain't' my problem. Sophia wasn't mine! Danni is mine and she's out there maybe dead or..." he could hardly think about rape. "Worse. Do you even know what kind of people have her now?"
... ... ... ... ... .. ... .. .. . ... ... ..
"Okay, do it the hard way."
Her cheek burned where he'd hit her and the cut over her hip bone stung, dried blood crusted on her stomach. She'd remained silent so he'd belted her a couple more times and kicked her ribs. He was more into violence than sex. She wasn't sure about the other men he kept talking about.
Tony yanked Danni her by her arm and dragged her down the hall, through the kitchen. She saw a group of about eight or nine guys armed with automatic weapons sitting around the table and on the counter tops. Some of them had obviously been mob footsoldiers in their earlier life. A few bikers mixed in among them. She felt their predatory stares as Tony pushed her out the rear door.
"Where you taking that sweet piece of ass, Tony?"
"Don't worry, after she tells me what we need to know she's all yours boys."
"Hurry up. It's been days since we found any pussy on a raid."
"Yeah and she looks like she'd be a real wild ride." The second biker stood up grinning and grabbed Danni's ass then slapped it hard. She gritted her teeth, then bit her tongue so she wouldn't say anything to make it worse.
"Won't be long gentlemen. Have I ever failed to give you a party? " Tony answered putting his gun to her back. The ravenous eyes of the men scared her more than their weapons, but also started to incur her rage.
Outside, he gave her a last chance. "Look you should really talk to me, cause a couple of those guys in there are made guys okay? And psycho, too I mean they do some real crazy shit. They won't just sit around and wait for your answers."
She was silent.
"Eddie!" get out here.
A tall, muscular guy in a white wife beater and track pants loudly chewing gum came out of the kitchen.
"Keep her in the garage until she decides to talk. She's making my ma uncomfortable."
"Sure thing." He looked at her hungrily and took her arm from Tony. He stuck the muzzle of his gun painfully against her spine and pushed her to the building behind the gas pumps.
She sat on the cracked cement floor of the service station's empty garage. She still smelled the motor oil and gasoline odor lingering. Late afternoon light filtered in through two filthy windows. Eddie leaned back against a red, rusted Craftsman tool cabinet, leering at her; she could read a book in his familiar expression.
She scanned the room looking for any possible way out or weapon and tried to loosen the cord around her hands inconspicuously. She knew Daryl had tracked her as far as he could. Once she'd been taken in the damn car, she realized there was nothing else he could do. She had to get out of this mess herself. She let anger take over her fear.
As if on cue, Eddie spoke. "It's been too long".
She took his bait knowingly. "Since what?"
"Since I had my dick sucked."
He said just what she expected and rage pulsed through her entire body. He thought she was an easy slut. It always came down to this: predatory men were everywhere. Fine, he wanted to play this game, she'd play. She wasn't gonna sit around helplessly and wait to be gang raped by that bunch back in the house and killed by Tony when they'd finished with her. They could bust through that door at any minute; she had no time to waste. This was her chance to get out of here.
She masked her contempt with a sly smile. "It's been too long since I had a nice big cock in my mouth."
"Yeah?" He leaned forward like it was his lucky day, surprised at her interest. "All the women we've been finding lately are scared shitless. Not always how I like it."
"I bet you're sick of waiting your turn. A lot of guys in there."
"Honey you have no idea. Had enough sloppy seconds to last me a lifetime." He started to harden at the thought of getting first crack at her.
"No reason we can't have fun while we're just waiting around, right?" She forced a smile, swallowing nausea.
"You some kind of super freak? You look like it. Tattoos and shit. Bet you got a pierced pussy."
"Maybe you wanna find out?"
He walked toward her. "I think I do."
"I can't exactly show you with my hands tied."
"I'm not supposed to untie you. Besides your mouth ain't attached to your hands sweetheart."
"The things I can do to you with my fingers." She licked her lips slowly for effect. "Thought you wanted a super freak, can't do it halfway." She looked up with big eyes, her bile rising. He was already starting to bulge as he untied her.
He took the gun out of his waistband and put it on the work bench next to her.
"Knees sweetheart."
She moved into place in front of him. When he yanked his pants down, his member sprung right up toward her face. Yeah, he was impatient. Let's get this over with fast.
"She took his dick in her hand and he immediately threw his head back and groaned at her mere touch. Over dramatic asshole.
"C'mon." He pushed himself toward her mouth. "Hurry up."
She had to make this look and feel good. Her life depended on it. She spit on his cock to lubricate and started fisting him, ensuring he was falling for it. He was a big guy and if he weren't turned on enough, he wouldn't be sufficiently vulnerable and she couldn't pull this off.
"Oh, yeah," he moaned and grabbed the back of her head.
"Wait, this will be much better. I know how to drive you crazy." She pulled his hands from her head and put them on her breasts over her shirt, mesmerizing him, making him close his eyes, ready. She yanked his cock forward and stood up fast, kneeing him hard from below. As he fell backward, howling in pain, she pushed his chest to make sure he'd slam to ground. She kicked him in the groin adding to his agony. She stepped over his writhing body ignoring his curses and brought her boot to the side of his head, over and over.
"This is what you get for thinking with your dick scumbag!"
She saw Tony, she saw Shane, she saw sleazy club owners, she pictured her stepfathers and visualized every man who'd ever tried to take advantage of her. Rage took over and she continued kicking. All the blood splattering across the floor didn't faze her. He was unconscious maybe dead? At that moment, she believed he deserved it with all her heart. She grabbed his gun from the tool bench and headed for the door trailing bloody footprints behind.
Danni stepped outside and immediately doubled over, retching violently. Her body continued to heave long after her stomach emptied. She was shaking and had to lean against the rough cement wall of the garage. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and breathed in a couple of times. She started toward the woods. Suddenly, she heard Brigid's voice loud, coming from behind her. "Now, go back to looking for what you lost...it will be found." She stopped short and turned. Sophia?
Sophia was playing on a rusty swing set with a boy and girl slightly younger than she was, at the back of the house. Here? What the hell was she doing here? The children are upstairs.
Danni looked around for any sign of Tony or his thugs, and released the gun's safety as she moved close enough for Sophia to hear her.
"Sophia!"
The girl turned to see Danni put a finger over her lips.
She ran from the swing set to Danni's arms. She looked fine; clean well fed.
"Danni." She whispered hugging her. As much as she wanted to stop and ask Sophia how the hell she got here, she knew there was no time. Especially since the other kids were going to wonder what was going on.
"C'mon, we need to go."
"I want to say goodbye to Miss Annette. She's been so nice."
"Sorry hun, no time."
"My mom? Is my mom okay?
'Yes, we're going to her now."
"Do you know the way?"
"I'll figure it out. We have to go now it's not safe."
Sophia nodded. "There are bad people here too. I saw them. Did they hurt you?"
"No. I didn't let them."
They jogged into the woods trying to get far enough from the house for good cover. Danni knew she was clueless about which direction to take. Realizing they were lost, she implored Benedida for more help.
... ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .
"We don't want trouble we just want her back." Rick faced Tony on the porch. It was the Guillermo situation all over again. "Where is she?" He pushed Randall forward.
Behind him, Glenn and Daryl had raised a shotgun and crossbow. T-Dog and Shane stealthily headed to the back of the house.
Tony was pissed that they were here. Randall brought them back. He'd hated that kid from day one. Out on a raid, they could do anything, but here they had his mother, the uncles, the kids. A kitchen full of hit men and thugs did him no good.
"I don't know what you're talking about. You must have the wrong place."
Dave emerged through the screen door behind him. 'What the fuck? Tony what are they doing here? Is that Randall?"
"What do you think fat ass?" Tony was getting aggravated Nothing was going right.
"Tony?" Daryl said. "You're Tony?' Randall had said he was the leader.
"Yeah, why?"
"Because I'm gonna gut you!" He lunged at the man, dragging him from the porch, rolling him in the dirt pummeling him. "Where is she?" He kneeled over Tony slamming his fist into his face over and over releasing every ounce of his anger, fear, and frustration. His fists were already ravaged from Randall's beating earlier, but he felt no pain over the adrenaline.
When Tony pulled Danni's distinctive knife on him, Daryl's rage doubled. Son of a bitch has her knife? He tore it from his grip and sliced deeply across the other man's cheek almost down to the bone
Tony yowled in pain and finally relented. "The garage!" Daryl kept punching until Rick pulled him back. He stood up, shaking Rick off and kicked Tony in the ribs.
Tony spat blood, and held his hands on his eyes both already swollen shut. 'Where the fuck is everybody?"
"Go Daryl, just go get her, we got this." Glenn ordered as T-Dog and Shane rounded the front of the house and armed men slowly trickled onto the porch.
He rushed into the garage crossbow aimed and ready finding only one guy laying on the floor with his head kicked in and his pants down. He knew the bloody boot prints were hers. The man was still breathing, but barely.
That's my girl.
He followed her prints to the side of the house. Her direction confused him for a minute; it looked like she turned right, back into the woods with a second very light tread putting pressure on the dirt and pebbles next to her.
He picked up a clear track again at the tree line. He felt like he'd found the trail he'd lost early that morning. Merle told him not to give up. He followed the broken twigs and matted grass for about ten minutes. Then he saw them, Danni and Sophia, holding hands, walking ahead of him.
"Hey!" His voice cracked.
Danni turned.
They stood staring at each other a few yards apart, unsure that the other was real. Finally, she ran to him and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist.
"Seen what you did to their boy." He said against her ear. "You did that, right?"
She nodded.
"Course you did." Then asked, "He didn't touch you did he?"
"Did it look like he did?"
She felt him smile against her neck.
He didn't want to put her down, but they had to head to safety. He motioned to Sophia. "Where the hell-"
"I'll tell you later. Hey, you're bleeding." She said standing before him, gently touching his side. His stitches had ripped when he fought with Tony and blood soaked through his bandage and his shirt.
"Yeah, 'cause you do a shitty bandage change."
She hugged him again, getting blood all over her.
Sophia stood back waiting. She knew that Knights and Princesses get mushy a lot.
"I might be pregnant." She whispered, needing to get it out, bracing herself for his reaction. No more secrets.
"Good a time as any." He said calmly, shocking her.
"But-"
"I'm not Merle."
Before she could ask what that meant, gunshots cracked the air, Sophia whimpered and grabbed Danni's hand.
"Rick. Shit!" Daryl said. "Follow me to the truck. We parked a ways back. Now you get in, lock them doors and keep down. Don't let nobody see you."
Danni nodded. No argument this time. She'd had enough of being a heroine for one day. "Wait, I don't have anything, weapon-"
"Yeah you do." He handed her Hayes' knife. She'd thought she'd never see it again.
She was going to ask how, but it was Daryl. Of course, he got it back for her.
"Be careful."
She didn't usually tell him that.
"And hurry up."
She told him that all the time.
... ... ... ... ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .
By the time Daryl had reached the house a herd of Walkers had overrun the structure. He scanned for Rick, relieved to see T-Dog and Glenn running toward him.
"Rick?" Daryl asked.
"He's behind us with Shane! We have to move, they're everywhere! Those idiots started shooting and attracted every Walker in the area. Rick warned them." Glenn was breathless.
"At least there's plenty for 'em to eat while we get the hell out of here!" T-Dog added.
Rick and Shane soon appeared, shooting Walkers as they got ahead of the threat. The men were able to make it up the road to their vehicles while the Walkers were still busy with Tony's group.
"I think there were women, children." Rick said stricken, guilty, when they reached the pickup and Daryl's motorcycle.
"We got women and children too, Rick. We got our own to protect." Daryl said bluntly. Catching his breath, he added, "Think you ought a see this." He banged on the hood of the truck and Danni opened the door lowering Sophia to the ground.
... ... ... .. .. .. .. .
It was dark, the moon waning, stars like a sea of fish in the sky, when they drove up to the farm. Danni looked at the crossroad as Daryl's bike sped over it planning to come back and release Benedida to keep up her end of the bargain. Sophia had been found.
"You two need to get stitched up by Herschel." Rick reminded them after they'd dismounted the motorcycle.
Danni nodded. "Got something to do first." She ruffled Sophia's hair. "Don't we bug?"
"Daryl, wait a second." Rick stopped them. "We need to secure this place. Check all the fences; we can't afford any break or weakness in the perimeter. " After what had happened at the service station, Rick knew it was only a matter of time before they had their own invasion to deal with.
"First thing in the morning can you be ready?"
Daryl nodded. "Yeah."
It seemed that Rick was asking more of him. He didn't mind so much for some reason.
Carol sat stitching one of Dale's shirts by candle light in the back of the RV. She looked up, surprised by visitors.
"Danni, Thank God!" She stood and approached to hug her but stopped when she started smiling and moved to the side. Carol fell to her knees. overcome. As Sophia pushed past and ran into her mother's arms, Carol looked up vision blurred by tears as they turned to leave.
"Thank you!" Carol choked out sobbing."Thank you."
Daryl looked back and nodded, remembering their last interaction.
Danni leaned on him, outside the RV, feeling the night around them. "Let's get to Herschel. You're bleeding a bit again." She said, but stopped, noticing something else. "Your hands." She held them, knowing his swollen, bruised, scabbed knuckles were for her. She pulled them to her lips and kissed them gently.
... ... ... ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .
Together, alone in their tent, the only light from the fire outside, he watched her brush her hair and whisper to the sleeping kitten beside her feet. Daryl felt a sense of pride he wasn't familiar with. Sophia was back, Danni was safe and he knew she needed him. No one had ever needed Daryl Dixon before, but he'd read her words in black and white. He reached out, cupped her cheek and ran his thumb over the bridge of her nose to the bottom of her eye. A tear had started to run. In turn, she dropped the brush, slipped a hand behind his neck and pulled him close to her. Their lips barely touched, but the electricity was palpable, the heat scorching.
"You need me?" He whispered, echoing her journal, ensuring each breath entered her mouth.
She touched her tongue to his upper lip. "Only you. You're the only one I ever want to feel; the only one I ever want touching me." Tears rolled down her cheeks, hot stinging tears. "Ever again."
When their lips finally came together, it was as tentative a discovery as the first time they'd ever kissed. Their mouths, so accustomed to throwing sarcastic barbs, now silenced with tenderness, gently merged. After trading tongue and hot breath, he took off her shirt and they fell back on the sleeping bag.
"I'm sorry. It's ugly." She said when she saw him looking at her stomach.
The angry red marks were only beginning to fade. He gently ran his finger over the stitches dissecting the sparrow. He was angry he'd let someone hurt her. He'd broken his promise.
Her tears had dried and she waited for him to put his hands on her; to cleanse her body with his touch.
"Nothing about you is ugly." He put his mouth back on hers and, as if to prove it, ran his hands up the sides of her taut belly and smooth hips. He finally pulled her jeans off leaving her clad only in her black panties already soaked.
"When did you know?" She asked breathlessly as he lightly ran his thumbs over her nipples. "When did you know you wanted me?"
"Sitting across from you in the back of that truck, going to find Merle." He said sitting up and straddling her. He took the time to unbutton and remove the shirt from his broad chest and thick shoulders. "You called me a bitch." Pulling her panties off, he looked down. "I'm gonna fuck you now."
"Fuck me hard?"
"Yeah..."
"Fuck me slow?"
"Yeah..."
"Fuck me deep?"
"Yeah..."
"Fuck me good."
"Yeah."
His voice became more graveled with each 'yeah.'
He grasped Danni's legs and put them on his shoulders then placed the head of his hardness against her entrance and pushed the tip into her sensitive folds. She sighed as her flesh opened to receive him. He penetrated her gradually, one inch at a time. He pulled out slowly and repeated the pleasurable torture until she whimpered, "Don't tease me.. not tonight, please..." and gyrated her pelvis to keep him against her. He removed himself again but only for a second, then thrust as deeply into her recesses as he could. She gasped as he held her legs tightly together, knees still over his shoulders and he quickened his pace.
"Harder, faster." She begged, unable to catch her breath as she suffered a convulsive orgasm, her legs shaking her hips bucking against him.
The overpowering pressure of her climaxing around him brought him over his edge and he drove in again and again until she'd emptied him.
He'd done it again. He'd fucked the fear and pain of the hellish day right out of her.
He leaned down and kissed her salty neck as he pulled out. She shifted position and managed to sit up while he collapsed next to her. She hovered above him and kissed him tenderly while her nipples brushed his skin.
She finally lay back. "I'm not sure. About what I said earlier." She turned on her side to face him. " I keep having these dreams. Its scary being alone with all this."
"You're not alone. I ain't going anywhere."