A/N: No word of a lie, I got such a great response to last chapter that I started and finished this chapter right after it. See? Reviews really do motivate but seriously, thank you so much guys! PS: words let me know you're still reading so leave me a review… also I will always shamelessly ask for reviews and try to guilt you into giving them to me. Love it.
Disclaimer: If I owned Daryl Dixon I would be one kickass bitch, unfortunately I don't own him or any of TWD so all I get to do is sit behind a computer and pretend I'm a kickass bitch.
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There were yells coming from the house that could be heard from the top of the shed. The bodies had been found and their prisoners were missing. This was it, all three of us were on our stomachs; there was a small ledge on the flat roof that offered some protection.
"You really don't know what kind of weapons they carry around with 'em," Daryl said, sitting on the ledge, feet hanging over the side. I gave him a look as if to say I had already thought of that and he just shrugged. If they were equipped like the boy in the kitchen we had a fighting chance. If they stored the kind of weapons that were in the shed in a second location we wouldn't have a hope in hell—I refused to think that way. That was too smart of an idea for them to have, something Rick would think to do, not these people. Not people who thought they were untouchable.
"Just… aim and shoot," I told the two other girls. Christine had already broken down crying once and Hannah had admitted to never even holding a gun before. "And remember to breathe."
The grenades were beside Hannah at her disposal. She was an outfielder for a college team, said she had a good arm. I had made sure to tell her to throw 'em at groups of people and leave the loners to me. I wasn't really expecting much from Christine at this point, I almost hated myself for it because I knew how it felt for someone to expect that little from you.
Three men came out the backdoor and spotted the open shed almost immediately. They were yelling and swearing so loudly they hadn't bothered to notice we were still there. In retrospect we probably could have ran and made it a decent ways, it's probably what they thought we did.
"They woulda came lookin'," Daryl reassured, he was now laying beside me in the same position. His breaths were steady and calm; his confidence was what kept my mind from doubt. They would have caught up to us eventually, Hannah and Christine probably couldn't trek far and even if they could, these guys had a vehicle. They had to be killed; it was the only way to assure survival.
"An' they fuckin' deserve it," Daryl spat. And they deserved it, I agreed. I aimed my gun at the only man of the three that had a weapon out. Taking a deep breath, I knew it was time, they hadn't yet realized we were here; they were all out in the open, completely unprepared.
"Shoot," Daryl whispered into my ear. I lightly squeezed the trigger, prepared for the gun's kick into my shoulder. The man went down before Hannah and Christine followed the lead and started shooting almost aimlessly but shooting nonetheless.
It wasn't long before the other seven men were outside. From what I could see, I counted five of them with guns. My eyes narrowed on Will, the man who took me from the room hours before. I could feel myself start to shake, not out of fear but from anger.
"Save 'im for last," Daryl seethed. I'm sure I could think of something special just for him, Daryl grunted in approval before I aimed at the man furthest away. I was probably the only one who could hit someone that far away and he was stupid enough not to take any sort of cover whatsoever. I took aim and missed, the shot landing at his feet the man stared up at me in fury, aiming his pistol toward the top of the shed. I missed again and again. Five times total, enough times for me to scream in frustration. I felt his hand on my wrist, before that I hadn't realized how bad I was shaking.
"You have the upper hand Beth, jus' take your time… just breathe," he said in that unnatural calm but sweet voice I had only heard come out of his mouth twice before. I inhaled a deep breath, blocking out the noise of Christine and Hannah's guns, blocking out the angry calls from the men below, blocking out Hannah's small celebration whoop of 'getting one.'
"You have to exhale," he said, irritated again as he cuffed me upside the head. I slowly let out my breath and shot the man who was stupid and arrogant enough to stock closer to the shed. There were nine left, by this time they were all either hiding on the other side of the cabin or behind the car I had been taken in. Will and a tall blonde man were behind two trees closest to the shed.
"Hey, Hannah," I uttered, getting her attention. She turned me, with question written on her face before remembering the grenades. "Think ya can throw one at that car?"
Without second thought Hannah stood up pulled the pin from the grenade and effortlessly lobbed it in the direction of the car. She smiled when it managed to roll underneath the it. It didn't take long for everything to turn back to chaos; the grenade went off, destroying the car; the three men hiding behind it were surly dead. That left four behind the house and Will and his buddy behind the trees. I motioned for Hannah to throw another, to be sure.
"Get down!" Daryl warned as I heard gunshots from behind the trees. I got up from my position, hearing Daryl screaming curses at me for being stupid. I brought Hannah down with me, hitting my knees hard on the roof's hard surface.
"What happened to you survivin'," Daryl spat in anger as I shuffled off of Hannah, who seemed to be in shock but alive. "Ya don't risk your life for people ya don't know."
"I know 'em enough," I bit back. Daryl grunted in anger before walking away, peering over the ledge. Typical. I rolled my eyes before reloading my gun.
"Know who enough?" Christine whispered almost inaudibly. I looked at her and back at Daryl who was twirling his index finger beside his temple, indicating that I looked crazy. Maybe I was crazy. I ignored Christine and stuck my head just over the ledge enough to see. The blonde one could be seen, he seemed to be motioning for the guys behind the house to join him and Will. I bit my bottom lip and took aim quickly and shot in the same amount of time. I had to be quick in order to avoid a bullet to the head, the bullet had hit him… in the arm possibly, but it hadn't killed him. At least he's hurt, I ducked back down and found Hannah had moved beside me.
"I don't think Christine can keep going," she said. I looked back at Christine who was sobbing to the point of dry heaving; at least she was trying to be quiet about it. I gave Hannah a shrug; there wasn't much I could do about it right now.
"Could've used that car," Daryl finally spoke up. This was what he decided to say, no praise or assurance. How could I ever put my new found and brilliant hunting and tracking skills to use if we had a car? I smirked and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Smartass," he mumbled. I heard the blonde man yelling in anger and pain from behind the tree, arguing with Will that they should just burn the shed down. Will, who seemingly thought the three girls were no match for him yelled back saying that there was too much to lose in the shed. After their one-sided argument he started yelling at the men behind the house, calling them cowards and ordering them to join him behind the trees. Not long after, two of the four men started sprinting toward the trees, I only knew this because their hurried footsteps were loud against the dirt road. Both Hannah and I popped up at the same time and began firing. I had managed to shoot one in the gut, he went down quick and Hannah shot off a couple more shots to be sure. The other man had joined Will and Blonde Guy behind the trees.
"What if they do burn us out?" Hannah asked once the both of us were hidden again. Her question only made Christine sob harder.
"What if they do?" Daryl asked seriously. It was a pretty high drop and by the time we recovered from it Will and his goons would have us surrounded.
"We'll kill them before that happens," I answered the both of them. Hannah seemed to be satisfied with the answer as if all she heard in my voice was confidence. Daryl on the other hand knew better, he didn't like the plan because it wasn't really a plan at all. All I could offer him was a shrug. They were too close to throw a grenade, it would be too risky and it wasn't as if they had they had the supplies to light the shed up in flames. Maybe a lighter, but it would take a lot more then that to do much damage in little time.
"Where are Cook and Leo?" Will barked in anger. The one who had survived the run to the trees sputtered out a response.
"They ain't had no—n-no weapons so's they just took off."
There were only three left and Blonde Guy was injured, but I wouldn't let relief wash over me quite just yet. I looked up at Daryl who was standing on top of the ledge without fear.
"What would you do?" I asked him in all seriousness. I could feel Hannah's eyes on me but she didn't bother to ask questions, it was as if she understood this was how I figured it all out- and hell, if it worked she had no complaints. I looked at Daryl expectantly and he stared at me awhile, he seemed hesitant. I knew what that meant, that meant I wouldn't like his idea and he didn't like it much either.
"I wouldn't be hidin'," he said gruffly. Sometimes his honesty was too much, I sighed inwardly. He definitely wouldn't be hiding, he'd figure out a way to keep fighting because that's what he did. He survived, fought and protected.
"So, what?" I asked expectantly. After all, those four words weren't really an answer to my question.
"They still think they can beat ya," he shrugged. "They think you'll stay up on this roof and they'll be able to come an' get ya…"
"So, I'll just go to them," I finished his sentence. He gave a grim nod as if he were worried but saw no other way.
"You have to be fucking kidding me," Hannah exclaimed quietly. "We are not going down there, we will be shot and we will die or worse."
I looked at her for second; completely forgetting she could hear my half of the conversation.
"We will die either way," I told her, realizing Christine had stopped crying and started listening. "We will sneak down from behind and make our way to the forest. We'll circle back," I said pointing to the forest that surrounded us. "Until we can see 'em again…"
"And then what? We wing it?" Hannah asked pointedly, I only offered her a shrug.
"Yup. Try not to blow up the shack or the house we'll need supplies when we're done—Christine if you can't pull yourself together, please just stay here."
"W-will you c-come back for me?" she hiccoughed. I glared at her and saw Daryl shaking his head in what I assumed was disgust.
"Leave her behind," he said. "She'll get you killed."
"Of course we will, right Beth?" Hannah asked in a concerned voice. Christine and Hannah had been together awhile; I looked at Daryl. If a new member came into my group and had had the chance to save me and didn't… Daryl sighed loudly. He knew just as well as I did that that new member would be nothing to the group.
"They'd be dead," Daryl assured. I gave Christine a nod, Hannah seemed to believe me but there was nothing but doubt in Christine's eyes.
"I promise you, I will come and get you or die tryin'."
This seemed to satisfy her, apparently me offering my life had been proven to be better than my word. Hannah and I gathered what we could, leaving Christine with a pistol, some ammo, and one grenade. I had told her if she had seen us in a tough spot to help the best she could without shooting us. All she could do was nod in response.
"An' leave Will for me," I told them both as Hannah and I quietly made our way down the back of the shed.
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A/N2: Holy geez, guys. I was expecting to finish the entire fight scene in this chapter. That did not happen, it was way longer then I thought it would turn out to be. But that's okay because that just means more Daryl because I am pretty sure he is the reason for the added length. Damn him.