Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. I also have no claim on any pop culture references that I may use throughout my writings. I only own my OCs. Enjoy the read.

0o0o0

[315]

Merle had been driving for a while longer before he pulled into a shopping center. He stopped the car in the middle of the parking lot and put his hand to the radio knob. "You may want to cover your ears, Princess!" Merle turned the knob as far right as it would go, playing the music loudly to draw over walkers.

Isabell sighed, leaning her head back on the headrest of her seat, watching as a few straggling walkers made their way towards the car. "Shit, Daryl's gonna be so pissed," She said, mainly to herself. Isabell rubbed her forehead hard with her dirty fingers, trying to calm herself down.

Merle reached behind and under her seat, grabbing something and pulling it around. It was a bottle of tequila, not surprising Isabell. He took a long swig of the liquid before offering the bottle to Isabell

The blonde shrugged, took the bottle and took a longer gulp than Merle, knowing it would affect her more. If Isabell was headed towards her death, she didn't want to feel nervous about it. If she'd live, She didn't want to dwell on how Daryl's anger would feel whenever she got back. Isabell gasped a sigh, not having had alcohol since the group was at the CDC. She shook her head to center herself. "So, your plan. We drive slowly until we get there, bringing these losers with us?"

"That's the idea, Bella."

"Since we're about to die, I feel it's only fair to remind you that I hate when you call me that." Isabell took another drink from the bottle before passing it back to her brother-in-law.

"I know. Don't mean I care." He shouted back at her.

Isabell nodded her head with Daryl scratching at the back of her mind again. She pulled the chain holding her wedding ring out from under her shirt and slid it on her finger. It was too big, even with the chain going through it, proving how much weight Isabell had lost since the end of the world.

"Why didn't y'all tell me?"

Isabell glanced over at Merle, noting that he saw her studying her hand. She shook her head, hiding the ring again. "You can blame me for that." Isabell admitted, inhibitions clearly gone. "I didn't think you'd approve."

Merle scoffed at her comment.

"Because you definitely woulda been there throwin' the flower petals, right?" Isabell snorted.

"Nah, probably not," Merle took a drink, swallowing hard and shrugging a shoulder. "But I wouldn't've fought ya on it. I know I gave ya shit, Bella, but that was only 'cause if you were gonna be a Dixon, you hard to earn it."

Isabell gaped. "So, because you two had to fight to survive, I did, too? You realize I also had a shitty childhood."

Merle shook his head. "It's not the same thing. Your ma ignored you. Pretended you didn't exist. I say my shithead sperm donor paid a bit too much attention to us." He scrunched his face, thinking. "When you were a kid, you were…soft."

"Soft?"

"You and Daryl were friends for how long before he told you what went on in our house?" Merle asked rhetorically. "He didn't wanna ruin you with what was happenin' to us."

Isabell scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest and placing her feet on the dashboard. "It only started happenin' to him because you abandoned him."

Merle pursed his lips, nodding slowly, but not thinking too much about her comment. He'd already had his fight with Daryl about it. "You were gonna be a Dixon whether I liked it or not. I just hoped you were ready."

Isabell tried not to show her surprise as she looked at Merle, watching him take another drink.

"Then, o'course, you went and got yourself knocked up."

"Harley wasn't planned, but that didn't mean we didn't want her." Isabell insisted. "I was scared shit-less. I wanted her, but I didn't think Daryl would. He fought for her, though. Surprised me with how good he was with her." She narrowed his eyes on her brother-in-law. "You surprised me with her, too, you know."

Merle snorted. "Whatever."

Isabell reached over, grabbing the bottle from Merle to take another drink. Talking about Harley was making things feel too real for her.

"Look, I'm just pleased my brother finally made an honest woman outta ya."

Isabell sat still for a second before handing him back the tequila. "Why did you leave me back at the pharmacy?" She asked, not knowing if she wanted the answer from him. "No need for me without Harley around? You could have your brother back. Especially with the impressionable state he was in. He told me about how you were gonna rob the camp."

Merle hesitated in his answer.

"C'mon man." Isabell shook her head emphatically. "We're surrounded by walkers, probably driving us to our deaths. You might as well finally tell the truth about how you feel about me."

"You really think I hate you?"

"Well, I don't think you like me."

Merle nodded. "I thought you woulda made it out," He said, honesty coated in his voice. "You'd earned your place. Shown how strong you were. Especially after Ace…" Merle paused, clearing his throat. "I thought you woulda caught up. But then you didn't, and I heard you fall. I thought you got bit. "Merle shook his head. "I couldn't go back or Daryl'll have lost me, too."

Isabell sighed, not having been prepared for such a serious answer from Merle. She thought about it and realized that it was the first real conversation she'd ever had with her brother-in-law in all the years she'd known him. "Well, I can't fault you for lookin' out for him. It's what we've always done, right?"

"Cheers to that." Merle agreed, raising the bottle in a toast.

Isabell looked around the car, noting they had built up a large amount of walkers around them. "You ready?"

Merle took one last long drawl of the liquor. "Let's go, Bella."

The drive to the mill was quiet as the panic began to set in. Isabell sat still in the front seat, willing herself not to throw up. What she and MErle were doing was going against everything she had been preaching for the whole year. They did things as a group. Sure, Rick made the decisions, but most of the time those decisions were unanimously agreed upon. Isabell felt like shit for going back on that.

Still, this could be the chance she didn't give Merle earlier. Maybe he'd come through and do something good for once. Maybe he was right in saying that the group should have attacked when Rick spoke with the Governor the first time. There was so much unknown, more than there had been in a while.

Isabell saw signs for the mill as Merle turned onto the driveway.

Merle glanced over. "We're here."

Isabell could feel her heart as it beat heavily in her chest. "What if I miss my shots?" She questioned, referring to the plans they made on the drive. "What if I hit you?"

Merle shook his head. "Bella, I ain't got time to boost your spirits. You're a great shot. Still, don't fuckin' hit me."

"Stay clear of my scope and we'll be fine."

"Alright, now. Go."

Isabell pulled the handle on her door, preparing to roll out as Merle slowed the car. "You promise you'll run?"

Merle nodded exaggeratedly. "Yes, Blondie, get your ass out there."

"I'll take out what I can. Stay safe." She took a large breath, bracing herself for the impact of the dir road as she rolled out of the car. Isabell hid amongst the trees and bushes, watching as the Governor's men dispersed through the rundown buildings. She took the gun in her hands, watching for anyone that could walk through her crosshairs. I

Merle barrel-rolled out of the car, allowing the vehicle to crash into the main building, the walkers close behind it. He went into the side building, dodging as the Governor's men began fighting off the mob of walkers.

The pair started to take out men excruciatingly slowly. If they worked too fast, the Governor would suspect a second person and go looking for her in the trees.

Isabell had fought off plenty of walkers, but never a full-sized man. Was she even strong enough to try?

The blonde shook her head, focusing. She put her eye back to the scope, finding a man with an eyepatch. "There he is," Isabell whispered to herself. She heard the story of how Michonne managed to stab him in the eye with a piece of glass. If only she'd gone a little deeper.

The Governor walked through the tall grass, heading straight for the building that Isabell had seen Merle go in.

"Shit." Isabell moved closer, staying low to avoid being detected and listening to the gunfire that was easily loud enough to hide her loud footfalls. She knelt down onto the dirt, squaring herself with the rifle in hand. Again, Isabell found the Governor in her scope, taking aim directly for his head. She had her finger on the trigger, ready to squeeze when she felt the air rush by her.

"Fuck." Isabell panicked, finger slipping, firing her gun as another shot went off in her direction. She ducked down to the ground as low as she could go, crawling away. Isabell moved down a few yards, before taking up her stance again.

The Governor was clutching his head. Isabell had managed to graze him when she misfired.

A man she'd recognized from Tyreese's group grabbed something from his belt and threw it in the direction of Merle and the Governor.

Smoke ignited the area, clouding Isabell's view. She took her eye from the scope and looked up, trying to see if Merle could be found with her plain eye. Isabell breathed heavily as her eyes darted back and forth, looking for him in the smoke. "Merle!" She called, hoping he would take the point and run towards the sound of her voice. "Merle!"

Merle broke through the smoke, running directly for her.

Isabell sighed in relief, shooting behind him, hoping she'd at least be hitting someone, regardless of whether or not it was the Governor.

Merle got to her and caught her arm, pulling her to her feet. "Let's go!"

The blonde let out another shot for good measure before running at full speed with him. She ran as hard as she could, just trying to get away alive.

0o0o0

Along their run back towards the prison, Merle and Isabell ran into Daryl. They hadn't yet slowed their stride so without even questioning it, Daryl turned around and ran with them. The three Dixons ran until they came upon the first shopping center where Isabell had met Merle and Michonne.

Isabell got into the driver's seat of the first car they came to and started to hotwire it, hoping there was enough gas in it to get them home. When the car started, she couldn't relax. Isabell peeled out of the parking spot, spotting Daryl in the corner of her eye who was staring at her angrily.

The blonde drove the car up to the prison and around the spikes she'd helped to install that morning. She gave Carl a small smile as she passed him after he opened the gate for them.

The boy closed the gate quickly and ran towards the car. Carl threw open the driver's side door and jumped onto Isabell in a hug before she could even get out.

Isabell sighed in relief. Knowing that she was home made her relax, even with the fight she had coming for her. Isabell turned in her seat, giving Carl a proper hug. "Hey, bud," she said, surprised by his actions.

Carl held her tightly, not showing that he wanted her to let go. He sniffled and then cleared his throat.

Isabell's heart dropped. She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him away, holding him at arm's length. Isabell instantly felt back for leaving him without saying anything. He'd been her best friend. "I'm sorry," she whispered, putting her hands on either side of his face.

Carl nodded, looking up and behind her at Daryl still in the passenger seat of the car, starting straight out the windshield.

Isabell followed Carl's line of sight. She sighed again, turning back to Carl. Isablel wiped the stray tear that had fallen before anyone else could see it. "Why don't you go inside, huh? The three of us have some things to talk about."

"You're not gonna leave again?"

"Not without you." She said, shaking her head. Isabell looked up, spotting Rick standing a few yards back behind Carl. She nodded at him once and he nodded in return.

Carl let Isabell go and made his way back to his dad, both heading back inside to give the Dixons time to talk.

Isabell turned back straight in her seat, still in the car.

Daryl sat in complete silence for minutes with Isabell and Merle waiting for him to say something. The gears turning in his head were firing on all cylinders, scaring Isabell. She'd never seen him so angry. Finally, Daryl shook his head, getting his thoughts in order. "The fuck were you thinkin'? The both of ya?"

Isabell looked behind her at Merle. "I just thought-"

"Nah," Daryl interrupted, not letting her actually answer. He looked at her, brows crossed in anger. "The answer is you weren't."

"We got out of there." Isabell stressed to him. "You didn't see it. We took out a few of his men. Almost took him out, but I nearly got shot."

"Yeah, Darylina. Everythin's okay." Merle butt in. "We're back."

"Shut up." Daryl snapped.

"For the record, I had no part in kidnapping Michonne originally." Isabell promised. "That was all him."

"Should that change somethin'? You shoulda come back with Michonne. You both shoulda."

"We were trying to kill the Governor before he could kill any more of us. That was the plan, until he caught the upper hand with that smoke grenade."

Merle nodded at Isabell's sentiment. "We had to high-tail it outta there."

"You coulda died!"

"But we didn't. We were smart." Isabell insisted.

Daryl scoffed, shaking his head. "So, that's it then, I guess. Right? We're good now?"

"Listen brother," Merle started, putting a hand on Daryl's shoulder as he leaned forward from the back seat.

Daryl jerked in the seat, pushing Merle's hand off of him harshly. "Man, fuck you!"

Isabell tried to stop him. "Daryl, calm down!"

The younger Dixon laughed to himself quietly. "Yeah, okay."

"Look, I did what I did." Isabell admitted. "I'm not sorry for that. And I saved your jackhole brother's sorry ass in the process."

"Now I'm supposed to thank you? For runnin' away? Goin' off to die when you were just yellin' at me for doin' the same damn thing?"

Isabell's heart stopped in her chest. She hadn't thought about it like that. "Daryl, I'm-"

Daryl nodded, done with the conversation and not wanting to listen anymore. He pushed the passenger door open and left the car, leaving Merle and Isabell.

Isabell sighed.

"Don't worry about it, Bella. He'll get over it."

The blonde looked back at Merle. "Yeah, I know. He's not normally the one screamin' at me though."

Merle chuckled to himself, placing a hand on Isabell's shoulders. "Not how I remember it."

Isabell groaned, shrugging Merle off of her. "You jackass." She cursed him, laughing anyway.

0o0o0

Isabell tried to sleep that night, but couldn't bring herself to completely relax. It seemed like every hour she would wake up to roll over and see the second mattress empty. Daryl had never come to bed and that worried Isabell more than anything. If they were about to fight the Governor and his people, Daryl was doing it on no sleep. However, it also meant that he was more mad than he'd let on. Isabell had remembered Daryl to be the suffer in silence type. Things had always been bad for him, but getting angry over it and yelling was never his type of retaliation.

Isabell decided that it was time to get up. The sun hadn't risen yet, but she could hear the others moving around the prison like they were on a mission. The blonde found a flannel shirt in her backpack, putting it on over the tanktop she'd slept in. After leaving her cell, she noticed Daryl, Rick, Michonne, and Glenn crowded together by the stairs. Isabell walked slowly down the steps, looking down at Daryl. "What's going on?"

"Merle said he'd attack today," Daryl said, referring to the Governor.

"Given what happened between y'all yesterday, he's a little on edge." Rick reminded her.

Isabell stopped at the bottom step. "Sorry about that."

Rick shook his head. "No, it's good. It means he's not thinking straight. Gives us more of an advantage."

"More of?"

"He'll be attacking us here. On our turf. We know these halls."

Isabell's eyes widened, in realization. "The tombs."

Rick nodded.

"If we can lure them far into the prison, we can corner them and strike back." Glenn shared. "They'll have to run. Unfamiliar territory puts people on edge. Especially in small, dark hallways.

"They'll need a reason to come inside." Daryl pointed out. "If we're standing up at the front entrance, waiting for a fight they won't make it past the gate."

"We wait it out then. We pack everything up in the cars and move them away from the prison. Not far." Isabell corrected herself. "We need them close enough that if things don't go the way we plan, we have a way out. With the cars gone, they'll think we've left and come in to explore."

Rick looked up at Isabell before glancing at Michonne.

Isabell smirked. How far they'd come to nearly giving Michonne up for dead. Now Rick was asking for her opinion.

Michonne nodded. "It's a good plan."

"Alright."

Glenn pointed to the side door of the cell block. "Maggie and I will hang out in the breezeways. We'll shoot them as they retreat to keep them from turning back."

"Let's get packing, then." Rick said to break up the group.

Isabell went forward to talk with Daryl, but he turned away from her and walked away. She sighed.

"Isabell?" Rick questioned, having witnessed the encounter.

Isabell looked at Rick, her shoulders dropping. "He's still mad at me for chasin' down his dumb-ass brother."

"It was reckless," Rick admitted. "You're lucky you both came back alive."

"I told you I'd handle him, didn't I?"

"Didn't want you to get yourself killed in the process."

"Potato, po-ta-toe." Isabell said with a shrug. "He shouldn't be given' us much trouble anymore. He knows what we're doing here. I'll fill him in on today's plan."

"Alright," Rick agreed, looking towards the cells. "I was thinkin' of keeping some of us out of the firefight."

Isabell followed Rick's eyesight, finding hers landing on Carl in his cell. "I think that's a good idea. He's been kind of on edge."

"We'll keep him, Hershel, Beth, and Judy out by the cars. Hide them in the woods, watching for stragglers."

Isabell nodded, looking around the room. "I really hope this works. I was getting used to these stupid walls.

Rick agreed, looking confident. I'll work." With that he left Isabell to get to work.

Isabell went into the main area, grabbing breakfast and eating it quickly. She had to get her and Daryl's cell packed up, so she went back upstairs to it. Isabell stopped at the doorway when she saw that Daryl was inside, having nearly finished the task. She sighed, leaning her shoulder on the doorway. "I was starting to worry that you hated me."

Daryl stopped his work to look at Isabell for a moment before finishing his task."Can't hate ya, Iz."

"That's good, I s'pose."

"Hate what ya did." He grabbed his backpack, throwing it over his shoulder. "Innit that what you used to tell Harley?"

"It is," She subconsciously grabbed at her rings through her shirt. "I just don't like this. Feelin' like I fucked up too bad."

Daryl grabbed their duffle and her backpack, passing Isabell her pack. "You didn't."

Isabell shrugged on her bag.

Daryl leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "Merle caught me last night. Told me what happened. How y'all…talked. Not what about, but y'all worked through some shit."

"Who'd've thought we'd see the day?" she joked. Isabell swallowed a bit of fear that was hiding in her throat. "I'm sorry. I should've thought more about you. About Carl and Judith. I just - tryin' to protect this place, seemed more important. Bringing Merle and Michonne back in one piece was more important."

Daryl nodded agreeing. "You brought him back. Even after everythin'. It means somethin'."

Isabell sighed, thankful for her husband's understanding. "I love you."

"Me, too, Iz. I'll see you out there."

Isabell nodded, watching him leave as she gathered up the rest of their blankets and Daryl's poncho.

0o0o0 THEN 0o0o0

Merle whistled loudly as he approached the barn they'd been hiding in. It was a long whistle, signaling that they had to get moving. He didn't want to spook his brother by just slamming open the door, but they needed to leave.

Daryl's backpack was on his back before the whistle had even finished. HE reached for the other packs nearby and ran for the door.

Merle was already in the driver's seat of the blue truck with his motorcycle in the back, bringing the engine to life.

Daryl threw the packs into the bed, confused when he didn't see Isabell. He peeked in through the window, hand on the car door. "Where's Izzy?"

"She's not comin'."

"The fuck you talkin' about."

Merle shook his head, before landing on his brother and looking him in the eye. "Bella's gone, brother."

"Yeah, right. Where the hell is she?"

"Gone." The eldest brother said with finality.

Daryl shook his head, still not believing.

"She is."

Daryl swallowed hard. "Wh - what happened?"

Merle shrugged. "What happens. We got surrounded. She went down."

"We have to go back. We have to see."

"Nothin' left to see."

"She's alive, Merle. She's gotta be. She's too stubborn to die."

"And walk right into a herd of dead ones? I barely got out there."

Daryl scoffed at his brother. He pushed away from the truck, grabbing his pack and crossbow from the bed before walking in the direction of the pharmacy.

Merle followed him in his rearview mirror. "Goddammit." He pushed out of the truck, turning off the engine. He chased after his brother, grabbing him at his shoulder. "Daryl, get in the truck. We have to go."

"I'm goin' to get Izzy first."

"Daryl, she's gone!"

Daryl dropped his bag, pushing Merle backwards by his chest. "She's my wife, asshole! I can't leave without her."

Merle paused, staring at his brother. "Yer what?"

Daryl shook his head. "Nothin'." He claimed his backpack from the ground and kept walking.

"Ya'll got hitched? What the fuck?"

"No surprise why Iz didn't wanna say anything."

Merle jogged to get ahead of Daryl to stop his persistence. "She went down. Walker fell on top of her. There was a scream."

Daryl shook his head, starting to pace a few steps. "She can-"

"She could've. But she didn't." Merle shook his head. "She's gone."

Daryl stopped, staring at his brother's serious face. He felt his lower lip tremble and tried to hide it by wiping the sweat from his face. "She's gone?"

"There's no way…"

Daryl took in a deep breath, trying to push down the scream building up inside him. God, he wanted to cry, but he couldn't. He didn't get to anymore. Things would never be the same again. Daryl nodded once, throwing his things in the back of the truck and getting in the passenger seat without a word.

Merle sighed. "Fuck," he cursed before getting into the truck next to Daryl and driving off.