Jo tried to stay calm, but all she could think of was the worst. She heard Rick talking to Carol.
"Merle is there at Woodbury. He did that to Glenn," he said.
"Daryl's brother?" Jo asked from the back seat.
"Yeah," Rick said, eyeing her in the rearview mirror.
They ditched the truck a mile out and ran through the dark to surround the front gates of Woodbury. They were all unsure of their plan, but they needed a distraction. As they neared the town, the group stopped. Rick took out a blade and approached Jo.
"No, I can do it," Jo said, taking out her own blade. She cut her arm and then turned to Carol. "Punch me."
"I can't," Carol said, shaking her head.
"Do it, Carol. This needs to be believable," Jo demanded.
Carol hesitated a moment before drawing her arm back and hitting Jo in the left eye. Rick caught her as she reeled backward from the hit. "Shit, Carol, you have an arm on ya," she said.
"Sorry."
Jo smiled.
"Alright, be as convincing as possible," Rick whispered. "You were separated from your group a day ago because of a herd. You were running through the woods from walkers tonight when you ran into a tree."
Jo nodded.
"The Govna's a sonofabitch," Michonne said. "Be careful."
Jo worked up tears and stumbled out onto the road. She held her arm as she ran toward the gate. A floodlight swung toward her movements. She stumbled over a dead walker. "Help," she sobbed. She crawled a ways before standing again.
"Stop right there!" a man on the gate yelled. She heard the door creak open as she shielded her eyes from the light. A man approached her slowly with a machine gun pointed at her. She worked up more tears and was breathing heavily as he stopped in front of her. "Have you been bit?" he asked.
"No," Jo sobbed. "I was running from a group of walkers in the woods and ran into a t…t…tree."
"Are you armed?"
"Just this." She hated to hand him her gun, but she had to. He inspected her wounds and led her inside Woodbury. All the while, the others were jumping over weak spots in the gate.
They followed the sound of yelling to the back lot of the town and saw Daryl and Merle in the center of a screaming crowd.
"Holy shit," Maggie whispered. They could hear the crowd chanting for blood. They moved along the outskirts of the lot in the shadows and waited.
The gatekeeper led Jo into a darkened building. He opened a door leading to the basement. The smell of blood was apparent. Jo slipped the knife from her sleeve and stabbed the man in the neck. He slipped to the floor and Jo snatched his machine gun and her pistol back. She crept out of the building and followed the noise of the crowd.
She stayed in the shadows of the alley until she spotted Rick, who pointed her in the direction of the generators. Jo met Tyreese there and she easily found where to disconnect the power, which would turn off the huge lights glaring down on the circle where she saw Daryl and a one-handed man who could only be his brother, Merle.
The Governor yelled to the crowd about Daryl and Merle being terrorists and disrupting their solemn existence. The crowd cheered for blood and Jo cut the power.
As soon as the lights cut out, panic set in among the townspeople. They began evacuating the lot and during the confusion, the team was able to surround the Governor and his men. Daryl had made his way to the edge of the circle, away from the guards. Jo grabbed him and whispered, "It's me," over the shouts and gunfire before cutting his wrists free and handing him her pistol and knife.
Lights suddenly flashed on and the Governor had a gun to Andrea's head, who had been close to the circle with a horrified look on her face when the lights were cut. All but two of the Woodbury guards had been taken out, and those two had dropped their weapons.
Michonne stepped out from the shadows and let out a growl.
"Aw, Michonne, come to reclaim your friend?" The Governor asked. Andrea had a terrified look on her face as she looked from the Governor to Michonne.
Merle met Daryl's eyes and smirked. Before Daryl could do a thing, Merle rushed at the Governor from his blindside (thanks to Michonne) and hit him by surprise. Andrea flew out of his arms as a shot rang into the air. The two guardsmen tried to grab their weapons, but before they could one had a knife to the throat thanks to Daryl and one was shot between the eyes from Rick.
Daryl ran to his brother's aid as Merle wrestled the Governor. He was 10 yards away when the Governor got a hit through and gained the upper hand. The Governor's lipped curled as he shot Merle in the chest and took off down the alley.
Daryl raced to his brother's side while Michonne stalked after the Governor.
"No! No! No! No!" Daryl yelled as he reached Merle and lifted his head into his lap.
Merle had a smile on his face. "Don't worry, baby brother, I'll be aight," he coughed. "Think there's pussy in heaven?"
"Daryl, we have to go," Rick said urgently.
Daryl let out a yell as Merle had one last laugh and died. "No! Merle, no!"
"Daryl, please," Jo said, pulling on his arm. Daryl slowly rose. He didn't take his eyes off Merle's body as Jo pulled him toward the wall.
Michonne didn't come back and they couldn't afford to wait for her. Daryl laid his head on Jo's shoulder as they drove back to the prison. Jo felt his tears trickle down her shirt.