I hear the sounds of tearing pages
And the roar of burning paper
All the crimes in acquisition
Turn to air and ash and vapor
And the rattle of the shackle
Far beyond emancipators
And the loneliest who gather in their stalls
I hear them all

A few days after the wedding and baptism, Daryl woke up to see his wife already awake, staring at the ceiling.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

The worry lines on her face relaxed, and she rolled to her side with a smile. "What makes you think something wrong?"

Daryl rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have married you if I didn't know you so well."

"You don't know anything about me," she teased, throwing her leg over his body. Macyn nuzzled into his neck and set tiny kisses down his neck.

"Come on," he prodded, pulling away. "Tell me what's going on."

Macyn sighed and rolled again to her back. "It's time for Andrea to leave."

"She'll be fine, Mace. She don't belong here in the first place."

"I know that, but she did at one point. I think back on things now – I was so anxious to help her, I didn't think things through. Do you remember when Merle and I went to get you from Woodbury? She admitted that she gave The Governor everything on us. Why didn't I think of that when we voted on whether or not to keep her around?"

Daryl propped himself up on his elbow and stroked her hair. "Because you're you. I don't think anyone faults you for it. You're a good doctor because it's in your nature to help people, despite everything they've done. That's why you stuck around with your father first, then Willy Slater."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right. Come here and I'll cheer you up, then you can pack her up and send her on her way."

Macyn smiled and resumed her position nuzzled into his neck.

.&.

Andrea accepted the pack from Macyn, but the scowl remained on her face. She stood fast on the porch, refusing to go.

"You stand there as long as you want," Macyn told her. "But you're not coming back in here."

Andrea rolled her eyes. "Macyn. When Woodbury beat me to hell and dropped me on this porch, you took me in and took care of me, even when no one else wanted you to."

"Oh God, Andrea. No one wanted to leave you on the porch. When it comes to you stayin' though, that's a horse of a different color. I voted for you to stay."

"It's your place," Andrea pushed.

"No," Macyn said, shaking her head. "This isn't just my place anymore. My family lives here. These are the people that stayed, Andrea. Me and them, it's our home, now."

"It was my home once, too."

Again, Macyn shook her head. "No, Andrea. This is just a place you stayed for a while. It was never your home, and it sure ain't gonna be now."

Macyn shut the door behind her then, feeling there was nothing left to say. She wiped the single tear that fell, not for losing Andrea, but for going against everything she felt was right. It wasn't the first time she had to compromise what she believed in – not even the first time in her whole life, let alone since the outbreak – but it was the first time she had felt the impact so heavily.

.&.

Daryl found her several days later, cleaning her gun. Her crossbow was not too far away. He sat next to her and put a hand over hers.

"Everything's going to work out," Daryl said, breaking from his usual realist outlook. "We're going to be fine."

"We're not," Macyn replied, piecing the weapon in her hands back together. "We keep telling ourselves that, and it just keeps gettin' worse. It's gonna hit the fan soon. Sent Andrea back, she'll snitch everything – that we're all still here, that we're healthy and happy. Then that son of a bitch will crash in to ruin it all. Shoulda just let Willy Slater kill me when he tried."

"Yeah, and what about me?" Daryl growled. "Huh? What about everything we fought for? I have never fought for nothin' s'hard as I fought for you, Macyn. How many times we put our lives on the line for each other? You gonna just throw all that away?"

"I'm here, ain't I?"

"Sounds like you don't want to be. Tell you what – I'm not pickin' you up from how low you got yourself this time. I love you, but fuckin' a. You gotta be zen about this shit, darlin', or we're as good as dead."

"Pretty much dead already."

He pushed up from the chair, took her gun and the crossbow with him; Macyn didn't argue. Daryl didn't think she would hurt herself, but he wasn't about to leave her with an easy option if it came to that.

He expected her to follow him into the ammo closet, to argue some more or to say she had changed her perspective. But he had put her weapons away and gone back into the kitchen and still she hadn't said anything. He went back to the table where she had been and saw that she was gone. The light in their bedroom was on, so he headed in that direction. All he saw was his own crossbow missing and a note on the small table next to their bed.

Daryl –

I'm going to end this. For us. There's enough threatening our happiness out there, we don't need to have the living making it worse. I love you, I'll be home when it's done.

-M.D.

Daryl balled up the paper and threw it on the bed before heading to talk to Merle and Rick.

.&.

"She's lost her damn mind," Merle sighed.

"Normally I would argue with you, but I think you're right on that," Rick replied, sitting at the table. "We've got to go get her."

"Is it safe?" Hershel spoke up.

These four men, Glenn, and Macyn had been appointed the unspoken council for the group. When necessary, Lori would be the tie-breaker if Macyn was not around or unable to decide. When everything boiled down, Rick and Macyn were at the head of the unofficial council.

Rick ran a hand over his face. "Of course it's not. Besides walkers, there's the general threat of Woodbury."

"Are we sure that's where she went? Maybe she's going to D.C. I heard there could be some answers there. Maybe she went to find them," Glenn suggested.

"No, I know Macyn. She's at Woodbury, and she's going to try straight for that Governor. I don't know what made her snap." Daryl groaned. He wanted to throw something or yell or … he didn't even know what.

Lori cleared her throat from behind them. "I think I know what made her go."

.&.

Macyn had indeed taken the truck, no doubt to get ahead of them before anyone noticed she was gone, which left Rick, Maggie, and Daryl on foot.

Both Hershel and Glenn had put up an argument about Maggie joining on the dangerous venture, but Rick and Daryl agreed she had paid her dues and proved she was an asset to the group. Four would be too big of a rescue team, but they couldn't take three men from the core of the group. So, finally, it was decided that Maggie would join Rick and Daryl.

That thin, plastic object Lori had held in her hands filled Daryl's mind during the walk to Woodbury. This new reality was something Macyn and Daryl had only discussed as a fantastical possibility – the kind you talk about in case it happens, but never really expect it to happen. In all of their talks, in all the scenarios they could think up, this had never crossed Daryl's mind or left Macyn's mouth as an option.

Without an idea of what her plan was, the group was at a significant disadvantage. Did they sneak in the back way and try to find her? Should they wait until after dark? There were too many questions and not enough answers.

The final decision was to wait out a couple of miles from the Woodbury wall until dusk. If mass hysteria broke out, they would be close enough to hear it. Otherwise, they would go in when the town was sleeping, create a distraction, and find Macyn.

For Daryl, dark couldn't come soon enough.

.&.

Instilled with a new confidence by knowledge of her condition, Macyn had walked right up to the front gates at Woodbury and identified herself before stating she wanted to talk to The Governor.

Two guards came out and searched her for weapons. When they found none, one of them took the crossbow from her hands.

"I hope you plan on givin' that back," she said in a warning tone as the gates opened for them. "I won't be the only one comin' to get it."

The guard snorted and pushed her forward into the town. Macyn took a deep breath and held her head high as they walked.

It was late afternoon, so many of the town's inhabitants were still out and about, visiting with each other, tending to gardens and city repairs, anything to keep busy. Macyn tried to keep her eyes forward, but she couldn't stop herself from searching for Andrea. It was a search in vain.

She was taken to the tallest remaining building and seated in a room that was empty, save for a wooden table in the middle of the room. It was all too calm, she was sure. No matter; these men had made a mistake. They left her alone in the room to wait for The Governor.

When Robbie was teaching her how to shoot all those years ago, cleaning and assembling her gun was part of the deal. After a target practice, they would clean their guns, then race to see who could complete the assembly faster. Macyn didn't win even half the time, but when she did, Robbie would take her in to town to the diner for a milkshake. After he deployed, Macyn worked hard to decrease her assembly time, hellbent on demanding a steak dinner with Robbie came back from overseas. Robbie never came back, but she kept working on decreasing that time. Maybe it was part of her coping, maybe she knew somewhere deep in her mind that she would need the skill someday.

As she pulled the pieces of a gun from where she had hidden them – in her boots, her pockets, anywhere she could find room and the pieces wouldn't be detected – Macyn was grateful that whatever the reason she had continued to work at it, it took less than a minute to assemble and load the gun.

.&.

Maggie, Rick, and Daryl had not been waiting for more than twenty minutes when they heard the gunshots. Screaming and yelling followed soon after.

Daryl was the first on his feet. If Macyn was in Woodbury, if there was shooting in Woodbury, no doubt the two were connected. He wasn't going to wait even a second to not be there to save her, not after she had saved him so many times.

The trio didn't bother finding an inconspicuous way into Woodbury; the guards at the front gate were pre-occupied enough with what was happening inside the town to not be concerned about who was walking right through their front door.

Once inside the gate, they stuck along the wall, in the darker corners and tried not to garner any attention. The streets were mostly quiet, as a crowd gathered around one particular building. Many were standing watch with their own weapons, waiting to see if the chaos was caused by the dead or the living.

The gunshots stopped. The screaming stopped. Not wanting to be conspicuous, the group tried to discuss their next move. Before coming to a conclusion, the crowd parted from the side of the building.

There was The Governor, holding his shoulder while blood dripped off his fingertips. Two men trailed behind him, dragging a woman with a cloth sack over her head. She squirmed and fought, but they would not let her go.

"Oh my God …" Maggie whispered behind Daryl. Rick shushed her and put a hand on Daryl's shoulder.

"We don't move until we know it's her," Rick warned.

Daryl heeded this instruction because he knew it was a good move. He also knew that woman was Macyn; he would have known his wife anywhere.

.&.

"This woman has infiltrated us under the guise of peaceful discussions," The Governor shouted. It made Macyn think of the attack on Pearl Harbor all those years ago, when the Japanese had been in the middle of peace talks before all those ships were bombed and people hurt and killed. "She has shot at your leader and demanded that we not take what is rightfully ours! Not only has she failed to define peace between us, but she has now motivated us to punish her and show no mercy to those in her group."

The crowd roared and cheered. Macyn tried to stay calm but it was difficult with the bag over her head; she couldn't see anything, only hear what was going on. A sharp pain in the back of her knee, presumably caused by someone kicking her, caused her to drop from her standing position. The next blow came across her face, and Macyn tasted blood.

"Let her go!"

No, not him. Not Daryl.

Everything went quiet, except for a small scuffle she could hear only small bits and pieces of. She was concerned not only for Daryl, but for whoever had come with him. Their group was far too close-knit and smart to let him come after her by himself.

"Take him to a holding cell. Put her somewhere else. We'll discuss what to do with them," Macyn heard The Governor say before whoever was holding her yanked her to her feet and dragged her away from the crowd.

.&.

Neither of them knew how long they stayed in those small, dark rooms before someone finally let them out. They were both broken and beaten. Macyn still kept a brave face; these beatings were nothing she had not endured before.

It had taken everything Daryl had not to demand information about Macyn. He could get her killed, he knew, if he pushed too hard. So, he waited and just tried to survive.

When they finally were released from these rooms, it was dark outside. They were handcuffed together, their free arms held down by guards. Relieved to see the other was alive, they quickly grasped hands.

The guards moved them to the room Macyn had originally been in, except the wooden table was gone. They stood there, together and guarded, waiting for what would happen next. It took several minutes of silence, but two more guards entered with a third prisoner in tow, followed closely by The Governor.

"No," Daryl started. "No, no, no."

Macyn looked at him, then at the prisoner again. "Merle? What are you doing?"

He looked at his guards, and The Governor who nudged him forward. "Go ahead. Tell them what you've done."

Merle was allowed to step in front of them. "I came for you."

"That was a stupid decision," Daryl spit out. His brother had come to get them and had been captured.

Macyn, more perceptive than her husband in times like this, shook her head. "He's trading his life for ours."

Daryl's jaw dropped. "Merle?"

"She's right, brother. I made a deal with them. This coward will finally get his revenge on me, and you'll go free." He tilted his head. "Not proud of many of the things I've done in my life – of any of 'em, really. Except you, Daryl. I got you through till all this. Then you got me through." He turned to Macyn. "You take care of my brother, and that little one. As much as I hated you to begin with, Macyn Dixon, you turned out all right."

"Merle, don't do this," Macyn pleaded. "You're supposed to be there for – for everything."

Merle smiled at the both of them. "I have to do this thing. This one thing just might redeem me. I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you. I want you both to know, I wouldn't die for anyone else."

"All right, that's enough," The Governor decided with a roll of his eyes. "Put him on his knees."

The guards did as they were told. The Governor put a gun to the back of Merle's head; Macyn closed her eyes. She couldn't watch. Daryl though, kept eye contact with his brother, right down to the last second. Even as he cried, Daryl wasn't going to leave his brother alone in the last moments of his life.

The gun went off, and Merle was gone.