Merle immediately grabbed Daryl, helping to untie his brother. He just about had the ropes off of him when he was jumped from behind by three of the Governor's men. Daryl turned and saw what was happening and instantly leapt onto the back of one of them, peeling him off of his brother and throwing him onto the ground. A fist came flying in his direction but he caught it out of the corner of his good eye and managed to get most of his face out of the way.
He felt arms grab him from behind so he used the back of his head as a battering ram, head-butting the guy holding him, then turning quickly to his with an elbow slam to the face. His assailant fell back and didn't get up.
Merle had two of the Governor's men on him. The Governor scrambled to get up after taking Merle's boot to the face, and spit blood out onto the ground.
"Take them!" He heard the Governor growl, and Merle turned, throwing an uppercut right into the throat of another of his men. The man dropped to the floor, clutching his throat, his mouth gaping desperately for air.
Daryl finished him off with a kick to the side of the head, making the man land face down and silent.
Kicking another onrusher, Daryl bolted to Merle. Fighting back to back, just like the good old days, they finished another two of the Governor's men. Unfortunately, the next wave of men rushed into the room and they saw guns. Merle didn't hesitate, rushing both of the men with his arms spread wide, and slamming them into the wall. Daryl took the opportunity to run forward and grab the neck of the Governor's shirt dragging him back into the room. Tugging him off his feet, he was so focused on the Governor that he didn't see the butt of a rifle come out of nowhere, catching him in the temple, and spinning him in a full circle.
Daryl hit the ground face first. His eyes wouldn't focus and his thoughts raced to thoughts of Katelyn. Fear took hold of him as he realized that the Governor was still alive and could hurt Katelyn. Struggling to keep his eyes open, he thought that this was it for him and hoped that Michonne killed the Governor. He heard the scuffle for a few more seconds before darkness engulfed him again.
###################################################################################
Michonne watched the wave of the Governor's men rushing in. It was obvious to her that things were not going well inside for the Governor, but she knew inevitably, that Daryl couldn't face all of them and win. Worse, was that Merle was the only ally within and she had zero faith in him. Her jaw tightened as she thought about leaving Daryl at the mercy of either maniac. Calming herself, she patiently held tight for any sign of an opening.
She didn't have long to wait.
And she was pleasantly surprised.
Two men went running toward the bell tower. Just behind them, a relatively beat-up crew was dragging an unconscious Daryl and shoving a stumbling Merle out of the barracks and into the arena with guns at his back. Merle turned around and slugged the guard who shoved him. The guards began to beat him down to the ground where they were finally forced to hit him in the head with their pistol. When Merle finally fell to his knees, they merely dragged him behind them.
She hadn't said anything when Daryl said that he was going to go in after his brother, but she had worried the whole time. She didn't have a good opinion of Merle, but apparently he had one good quality; brotherly love, and she could respect that at least.
Throwing both men into the arena center, the guards stood around them with their guns pointed at the brothers and waited. The Governor was washing his face with cold water, wiping the blood and grime from himself. It was obvious that he had gotten the piss beat out of him by one of the brothers and Michonne smiled.
The Dixon boys were tough sons of bitches.
Michonne began moving with the stealth of a panther, crouching low and slinking across the expanse without detection. Everyone was so focused on what was happening in the pit, no one noticed her move into position on the top of one of the lower buildings.
People were filing out of buildings at the sound of the bells ringing with confusion on their faces. They were gathered by the guards and funneled into the arena stands.
Michonne looked back toward Daryl who lay face down on the ground and Merle who stood in the center right next to his brother. She saw Daryl's head move a little and then his eyes opened, looking right at her. She saw him blink a few times and knew he was shaking off the effects of being unconscious. She unsheathed her katana enough to let the moonlight catch the metal of her blade.
Daryl saw the gleam of Michonne's blade and knew that the moment to strike was near. He felt like shit, but this was all or nothing. His hands weren't tied so he began to stand up. He felt someone grab him and lift him to his feet.
"Nice of you to join the party, little brother." Merle said smugly, chuckling wryly at their situation.
"Sounds like fun." Daryl muttered, looking around him at all of the people who were filtering into the arena. He had seen the burning that took place with the doctor and knew that he and Merle were scheduled for an execution.
Merle didn't know that Michonne was here, but Daryl thought that maybe, with the three of them, they'd be able to take enough of them out that the rest would flee. Daryl started sizing up the men surrounding them. There was one in particular that looked uncomfortable. He held an M-16 in his shaking hands, which was pointed at Merle.
That would be his first target.
"Just wait for my lead." Daryl said under his breath toward Merle.
Merle looked at him funny. Usually it was Daryl following his lead.
"We've got some backup." Daryl explained as Merle turned to look at him.
"Who?" Merle asked, his eyes searching the crowd for possible allies.
"Michonne." Daryl replied, knowing that Merle wouldn't be too happy about that, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
"Shit." Merle swore, "That bitch!?"
"That 'bitch' is gonna save our asses here." Daryl said.
"Well hell, maybe I'll just put my feet up and watch you two work." Merle said sarcastically.
"Hell no. We're gonna need all of us if we hope to get out of here." Daryl snapped, irritated that his brother was such an ass. "Our main target is the Governor. Kill him and everything falls apart. No chain of command."
"Sure there is." Merle said smirking, "Me."
"Don't be a jackass, Merle. I'm serious." Daryl stated, earning him a sour look from his arrogant brother.
"Fine. Fine." Merle grinned, holding up his hands and looking at the Governor who was hushing the crowd.
"We've been struggling lately." The Governor shouted, addressing the crowd of curious onlookers. "Raids, vicious attacks, murders…all, because of one group!"
The crowd was looking at Daryl and Merle in the center with frowns of confusion.
"Well tonight, we caught two of them. One of them, was one of our own; Merle…traitor and coward! The other, his brother, who snuck into our town tonight, but tonight we put an end to it!" The Governor declared, amping up his speech, "Tonight, we will have JUSTICE!"
The Governor motioned for the men to move forward to take hold of Merle and Daryl. Four men rushed forward to grab their arms.
Suddenly, all hell broke loose.
Launching through the air in a spectacular maneuver, Michonne, katana held aloft, swung, slicing through the Governor's left side. Blood erupted in a spray that arched across the center of the arena, leaving three of his men covered in the splatter. Michonne landed with almost supernatural grace, right in front of the Governor, shoving her katana back and into his gut.
The Governor gasped, not knowing what had happened, before falling to his knees.
The crowd exploded in chaos.
Gunshots, shoving, fighting.
Daryl didn't waste any time, immediately diving for the man with the M-16 and twisting it out of his hands. Smacking the surprised man across the face with the rifle, Daryl dropped him in one hit before turning, pulling the gun up to his shoulder to couch it and aiming.
One, two, three.
Just like killing walkers, Daryl thought to himself, as he popped three of the guards, fully giving into his anger at these idiots for following that psychotic despot.
Glancing quickly at Merle, Daryl immediately realized that he, too, had a gun and was using the screaming, running citizens as cover, darting in between them.
"Merle!" Daryl yelled, pointing at the wall, before looking for Michonne.
The Governor had fallen immediately to the ground, but he didn't see his body anywhere. Michonne was cutting down anyone who came near her as she waded through the bodies towards Daryl.
"You ready to get the hell outta here!?" Daryl yelled over the chaos.
Michonne nodded and started for the wall.
Bursting out of the bedlam behind them, the three made their way for the wall.