Michonne and Daryl split up, each nodding to the other as a gesture of acknowledgement between two warriors. Michonne ducked down the back alleyway while Daryl skirted the edge of the inner walls and alleys. Crouching behind a woodpile, Daryl watched the men on the wall and those patrolling the streets. A few unarmed civilians darted to and from buildings, but it was obvious that there was a curfew in effect.
Daryl's attention was drawn to a tall man with a commanding presence. He was being approached by a group of armed men but seemed at ease, and they, respectful of him.
The Governor, he thought to himself, his jaw clenching in anger.
He breathed deeply, trying to calm himself. He could just shoot him from here and be gone, but he needed to get Merle out of there.
That's when he heard his voice.
Merle had a rifle slung over his neck, his arms resting up and over it. The Governor was addressing him and pointing toward different areas as if he was going to have his men search.
Shit, he thought. He knows Andrea and Carol are gone.
Looking around, Daryl searched for any sign of Michonne. Now that Merle and the Governor were together, it was going to make things complicated.
Daryl was about to move when he felt the cold hard metal of a shotgun press against his neck.
Daryl closed his eyes in surrender.
"Stand up real slow." The voice ordered.
Daryl raised his hands above his head and stood slowly.
"Move!" The voice continued. He felt the shotgun butt into his back and began walking.
As they emerged from the shadows, the Governor, Merle and the others turned to see them.
"Daryl?" Merle questioned, following behind the Governor.
Daryl let out his breath and looked from Merle to the Governor.
"So this would be your infamous brother?" The Governor drawled, his voice dripping with syrupy sweetness.
Merle was shocked. The last thing in the world he was expecting to see was his brother. He didn't know what to say.
The Governor didn't care what Merle thought. His eyes were lit with the fires of wrath. He was delighted.
Now, they had someone to punish for their suffering.
##############################################################################
Michonne was well hidden and watched everything unfold.
Daryl had been dragged away by a few of the men, Merle and the Governor in tow. Daryl started fighting them the minute they put their hands on him, earning his a swift rifle butt to the head, stunning him long enough to take him to their barracks.
Michonne couldn't do anything from inside the barracks. For now, Daryl was going to have to fend for himself.
A thought that made Michonne angry.
#############################################################################
Daryl awoke to a bucket of ice cold water being splashed in his face.
Gasping for air, he spit the water out, looking up at his jailer just in time to see a fist flying at his face.
Daryl felt the impact of the knuckles split the skin on his cheek. The stinging pain woke him up quickly as his head went flying back. He tasted the blood in his mouth and turned back to look at his attacker and spit, hitting him in the face.
The man hit Daryl again, this time splitting his lip, then again in the eye. Daryl didn't have time to spit at him this time.
"If this is foreplay, at least tell me your name." Daryl said sarcastically, the acerbic tone and disdain obvious to the other man who socked him in the stomach this time.
"Does that mean no?" Daryl asked, mocking the other man and causing him to get angry. This time, however, Daryl was ready and when the guy came in to swing, Daryl planted his booted foot right in the guy's crotch.
The breath left the other man as he fell to his knees, earning him another kick from Daryl square to the face this time.
That felt good, Daryl thought.
The man lay on the floor in a ball, moaning in agony, as the door opened again. This time it was the Governor and Merle.
"You weren't kidding, Merle. Your brother is tough." The Governor stated, looking down at his man who lay on the floor.
"Get him out of here." The Governor ordered.
Two more men came in a removed the crying man from the room.
Daryl glared up at him.
"So my question is, why are you here?" The Governor asked.
"I came for Merle." Daryl answered honestly.
"Then why sneak in?" The Governor intoned, sizing Daryl up. He was smaller than Merle, leaner than Merle, but there was something about Daryl that was different. He just didn't know what it was yet.
"I've been watching and you ain't exactly the easiest man in the world to approach." Daryl snorted with dry humor.
"What do you mean?" The Governor asked, curious now.
"You want me to be honest?" Daryl asked, looking up at the man who towered over him.
"I wouldn't waste my time with anything else." He answered.
"Your fucking psycho." Daryl retorted.
He saw the Governor's face tic with anger, his eyes narrowing.
"Let's see, you keep your zombie daughter locked in a closet for some daddy-daughter time, you keep the heads of people you kill, you lie to your people, you're a tyrant with a god-complex, oh, and you tortured Glenn and nearly raped his girlfriend." Daryl answered, his eyes narrowing back with deadly intent.
If he was gonna die, he was gonna die well.
"There's more." He continued, smiling at the fact that he was upsetting this son of a bitch. If he could just antagonize him a little more, get him to come closer, he could take a shot at him. Mostly, however, he was hoping that his little rant was giving Merle a clear picture of what this guy really was.
"When your daughter called you on it, you flipped your shit and beat the crap out of her so badly she ran away. When she came back to you, you were glad she'd been hurt, just real upset you hadn't been the one to do it, but some sick, twisted part of you wanted to see so you made her strip her clothes off in front of you, you sick fuck!" Daryl yelled, the fury in his voice making it loud enough that all the men outside heard as well.
The Governor lost his cool and jumped on Daryl, punching him in the face, and knocking the chair over. Crashing to the floor, the chair broke under the weight of both men. Daryl was taking shots to the ribs and sides but managed to free one of his hands. Grabbing ahold of the chair leg, he swung it sideways, hitting the Governor in the side of the head and knocking him sideways.
It happened so fast, Merle didn't know what to do. A small part of him was proud as hell, watching Daryl give as good as he got, but the selfish side was scared. The Governor was powerful and if he sided with his brother in this, and they lost, he'd be dead too.
The Governor grabbed Daryl in a headlock and slammed him into the wall. Breaking his hold, however, Daryl was able to knee the Governor in the kidneys before uppercutting him in the jaw and knocking him back. The Governor fell to the floor and looked up to see a boot coming at his face.
The boot belonged to Merle.