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Writer's Notes: Thank you everyone for your reviews! I hope everyone is doing well and having a great day! I have a lot planned for everyone so buckle up. *winks* Don't forget to follow favorite and review!
Bella surveyed the fence that held in the city Terminus. The train cars on the far side blocked anyone from being able to see Bella, Rick and Daryl. It worked in their favor. Bella swung her pack around to grab the hand bolt cutters she carried with her everywhere. She was prepared for several different scenarios. It's the way she was trained. "Daryl, take these. I want you and Rick to enter this way. I'm going to go around the other way."
Daryl took the bolt cutters but pit a hand on her arm to stop her before she moved away. "Hey. Be careful." His grey-blue eyes stared at her, a look of worry.
Bella smiled a little. "I'll be fine. Trust me."
"I trust you… I don't trust this place and it's people. We need you to come out of this alive." Daryl said his voice dropping lower. He had started developing some feelings for her. He cared a good deal about her. She was unique, funny and extremely talented at anything she did. He knew she didn't see him in any way other than Daryl Dixon but he let his mind explore kissing her a few times.
Bella nodded and then patted his cheek. "I know. Same to you Dixon." She said with a wink and then she was gone.
Rick looked at his friend and comrade. "She's going to be fine. She's the Army ranger. I'd say she has a better chance of taking this place down single handedly. We're just here for show." He said slapping Daryl on the back and nodded to th fence.
Daryl sighed and used the bolt cutters on the fence. They heard some booms and it forced them to stop.
They heard people shouting.
"What is that! Where did it come from?!"
Rick smiled a little and pushed Daryl forward. Bella was setting off explosives to divert all attention to her while they made it to the train car to help Eugene's people.
Bella pulled another pin on a grenade and she lobbed it over the side of the fence. She surveyed the area. No people were there. She then took the gas and poured it into a bottle and stuffed a piece of shirt in it before lighting it and tossed it. It broke and flames went up everywhere. She doubled back around to the side, using the building as cover. She watched as a bunch of people came running to the fires and explosions. They were panicked. They were armed heavily so Bella didn't chance it, she pulled the pin on a flash grenade then rolled it in and it boomed making the bunch yell and shield their faces. Bella pulled the pin on a different grenade. Next were the ones that go boom and she rolled it in and it exploded. Agonizing screams filled the air as the men were seriously injured. Bella skirted around the building watching others come running.
"Come out! We know you're there!" A cool voice called.
Bella rolled her eyes. She remained quiet, waiting.
"Sir maybe they're not in the fence. They could have thrown it over the side." Another man said.
There was a brief silence. "Go. Check it out."
There were footsteps but all you could hear was the screams and cries of the men now dying because they were in the grenade blast.
On the other side, Rick and Daryl moved fast as they stayed low out of sight as they made their way to the train car that Eugene described. There was a man outside the door of the train car on watch. Rick moved faster, surprising the guy, putting him in a rear naked chokehold before he could yell. The man struggled and flailed but soon he was passed out. Rick patted him down, taking the keys off him and tossed them to Daryl. Rick slipped the rifle from the guy and he watched Daryl's back as he opened the train car. Daryl hopped up inside to look at the people in there.
A red headed man with a matching goatee and mustache looked a little beat up but he was okay. A woman with dark hair and eyes with some Malaysian features or latina. Daryl didn't know. And he stopped when he saw Merle. The greying hair, buzzed on the sides. The tough look of his skin from years outside in the wilderness. The same blue eyes that matched his own.
"Merle…" Daryl said his name and then the brothers were hugging each other. They never hugged. But in this instance, they hugged. There was no doubt that either Dixon brother missed the other.
Rick poked his head inside. "Lets move. Bella can only distract for so long." He said quickly.
Daryl pulled out of the hug and looked at the others. "C'mon let's get going. Can you walk?" he asked, looking at the red haired man.
The man nodded and got to his feet, Merle helping him. The woman seemed to be in better shape. Daryl went to the door of the train car and looked over where smoke was billowing up. They heard gunfire and it forced them all to move then. Daryl instinctively wanted to go to Bella, but Rick stopped him.
"She's going to be fine. Trust her. Let's get these people out before this guy wakes up and more people show up." Rick said and forced Daryl to go back towards where they came through the fence.
The gunfire was attracting walkers. Daryl shot a couple as they ducked through the opening of the fence. They were free now, but they had to make sure they got the people back to the rendezvous point.
Bella hid behind the building as bullets scattered around her. She grabbed the other bottle with gas in it and lit the cloth before she shifted and threw it, setting more people on fire. More screams and shooting. She pulled the pin on the grenade and took a breath before she lobbed it and it started filling the area with more smoke. There was zero visibility now. She ran, sprinting from the scene. She felt the bite of a bullet in her side but she kept running until she slid out of her exit and slid down the small hill. She brought her machete up and sliced into a walker and then another and another until she was able to break from them and rush through the woods. She ran until the screams and yells of Terminus were behind her. She looked at her watch. She knew Daryl and Rick had to be out now. She saw the open train car and knew that they had completed their mission so she had to book it out of there. The people didn't have heavy machinery so it was unlikely they would come after her. They didn't know what she looked like or who she was so that played in her favor too.
Daryl was pacing a little while Rick took a look at the man with the red hair. They found out he was Abraham and the woman was Rosita. Merle was sitting, watching his brother pace.
"Little brother if you don't stop pacing you'll wear a hole in the floor." Merle spoke. His voice was raspy, southern like Georgia.
Daryl stopped moving and looked back at his brother. He still couldn't believe that after a year of thinking his brother was dead, that he was alive and well. "She's been gone too long. I'm going to go-"
Bella appeared then, opening the door and coming inside. She was winded and she her side was soaked with blood.
Daryl moved to her face, tossing his crossbow when he did. He saw the blood and his hands went to her side to put pressure on her wound. "Shit Bella. What the fuck happened?"
"I got clipped." Bella said and then shifted, moving her pack from her back and letting it slide to the ground. "Take my shirt off." She instructed.
Daryl moved his hands to the hem of her shirt and pulled it up and over her head. She was standing in her sportsbra now. He looked at her side, surveying the damage. His hands went to her hips, twisting her to look to see if there was an exit.
"I pulled the bullet out. I need my suture kit. In the bag Dixon." She said her voice a little rough. It was obvious she was in pain.
Rick moved from Abraham to assist. "Daryl put pressure on that. I'll get the kit." He said and Daryl's rough hands went back to her side, using her shirt to stop the blood from oozing. Rick got the suture kit and he Daryl removed the shirt before Rick started the suture.
"Here." Bella reached for the needle and Rick handed it to her and she stitched her side.
Merle was impressed. He didn't know who this woman was but it was clear his baby brother was infatuated with her. "Sewing yourself up. It's the first time I've seen a woman do something like that. You're tough."
Bella looked up at Merle. She nodded. "You're Merle."
Merle smiled, showing off the two silver teeth he had in the front. "What gave me away?"
Bella pulled the last stitch through and relaxed a little. She looked back up at Merle. "You and Daryl favor each other." She said and then reached for her water bottle and poured water over her side to wash away the blood.
Rosita spoke. "How did you find us?"
Bella looked at the woman. She was beautiful. Her hair was dark like a black silk and her deep tan was even. "Eugene. Saved him from a herd. He said that he had friends in Terminus. Drew us a map. One of our people went with him to your other people to bring them back to our people." She explained.
Abraham stood now wobbling a little. He was wearing army pants similar to the pants Bella was wearing and a sage green tank top. He wore combat boots like Bella did and his dog tags shone around his neck. Bella's dog tags were visible now. Which is what caught his attention. "Sergeant Abraham Ford. United States Army 101st Airborne."
Bella looked over at Abraham, taking in his appearance. She nodded. "Master Sergeant Isabella Swan 76th Ranger Regiment."
Abraham looked surprised. "Master Sergeant?"
Bella raised a brow. "Yes. Only a Sergeant?"
Rick smiled but interrupted the introductions. "We need to put distance between us and Terminus. I say we keep moving, make it back to that gas tanker and refill on some gas and get a car started to take around to our people."
Bella nodded. "You're right. We need to get to our rendezvous point with the others. If we don't get a car working, it's going to be a long hike."
Daryl wanted to just make her rest a moment but Rick was right. The more distance between them and Terminus, the better.
Abraham nodded his agreement. "Lets keep moving." His ribs hurt from being smashed a few times but he wouldn't slow anyone down. He'd push through the pain.
Bella nodded. "Alright, let's move." She said, grabbing her pack. Her side burned and throbbed and she needed to clean it better but they didn't have time for that. She grabbed her bow and she went to the door and peered out. There were a few walkers scattered in the streets. She let loose two arrows, piercing the skulls of the walkers before she pulled her throwing knives from her belt and threw them, all three with deadly accuracy. She ran, retrieving her knives and arrows as the others moved behind her.
Merle was shocked at how she moved. "Damn, she's feisty." He said with a grin. "I really like her." He said his tone a telling one that Daryl knew too well. He stayed quiet as he moved not willing to influence Merle one way or the other. It was best to let it go.