Merle Dixon was almost to his "escape" truck when he heard the low purr of a well-tuned engine over the gentle patter of the diminishing rain. He fell back against the brick wall of a rundown strip mall just as a black SUV pulled into the parking lot. The Governor. No. Not yet. Too soon for the man to show his lying two-faced self. Merle figured he'd send his so-called soldiers out scouting first and then he would come in personally for the "kill".
He only saw two men in the vehicle. Looked like Cooper and Rusty. They practically worshipped the Governor. Fools. Didn't they know they were on a suicide mission? Merle could take em' out easily. No problem.
They hadn't seen him...he could let them go on about their business but being soft would just kill him in the end and Merle wasn't fuckin' soft. Crouching low, he ran up behind the SUV and smacked the rear door.
"What the fuck was that?" He heard Cooper say. Merle could just hear them if he was still.
"Don't see anything," Rusty answered looking around. Merle stayed down out of sight from the side and rearview mirrors.
"Probably the wind."
"Yeah," said Rusty, glancing nervously in the mirror, a little less sure than his friend. "Should we go look?"
"Do you wanna get out in this fucking rain?" Cooper said, disgusted. "I still think we could've waited until the storm passed."
"Yeah and if you kept your mouth shut about it, the Gov woulda sent someone else instead."
Fuckin' lazy shits. Merle thumped the bottom of vehicle with the knife attached to his right arm. Get outta the damn car.
"I know you heard that, Coop!" Rusty said, opening the door. "I'm gonna have a look."
"Do what ya want."
As soon as the man rounded the rear of the car, Merle pulled him down with his left hand and shoved the knife through the bottom of Rusty's chin, up through his brain. "Sorry, man." Merle said and wondered just how long was it gonna take for the other man to miss his partner? Didn't matter. He didn't have time to wait. He crawled around to the driver's door, jerked it open, yanked the man out and drove the knife through his eye before Cooper could even register his presence. He dragged both bodies to one of the stores with a busted down door and covered them with debris, but not before he divested them of all their weaponry. He wouldn't make it easy for anyone trying to follow him.
Merle jumped in the smooth leather driver's seat of the SUV, grinning as he headed toward his own hidden vehicle. This was a nice ride but too easily recognizable, besides, by himself, it would take too long to unload the supplies he'd been squirreling away since Blondie showed up. He'd enjoy it while he could. Spinning the tires on the wet pavement, he whooped and swiftly sped off.
Caesar kept watch out the upstairs window while Rowan packed up their still damp clothes along with a few dry ones from the house. Amanda searched the kitchen for foodstuffs but found very little worth salvaging. There was a small greenhouse in the backyard and the remains of a garden. Since the storm had finally subsided to a drizzle, she really wanted to go out there and see if there was anything they could use. She had found a few seed packets in the kitchen drawer. Maybe there were more in the greenhouse.
She stood in the doorway a moment. Wait a minute...did she just see something move?
"Caesar?" she called up the stairs, "I think there's someone out there..."
Caesar took the steps two at a time, leaving Rowan upstairs with quick orders to hide. He stood behind Amanda, looking over her shoulder through the screen door. "Where?"
She pointed across the street about three houses down. "Oh God! Do you think they found us already?"
He didn't see any thing but as a precaution, he pulled her back and locked the door. "Upstairs!" he ordered. Caesar gave each of the women a gun with explicit instructions. "Don't use it if you don't have to. Don't wanna give away our position in case there's more than one." He knelt by the window with own his rifle aimed at the house down the street.
The walkie talkie crackled in the front seat of the SUV. "Cooper, Report in." The Governor.
Merle knew it was best to ignore the call but he couldn't, damn it. He stomped on the brakes and put the car in park. Shit! Picking up the device, he pressed the button and spoke. "Cooper and Rusty are off duty. Permanently, sir."
"Merle." He didn't really sound surprised.
"The one and only." Merle smirked.
"I believe there's been a misunderstanding, Merle. Come on in so we can work it out. Woodbury needs you," coaxed the Governor.
Man must've been a fuckin' politician before all this shit. "The way I see it, Governor, the only misunderstandin' was you thinkin' you'd get away with hurtin' my daughter."
"Now, Merle, you know I wouldn't do that. Crowley acted on his own. Had a grudge against the girl since she broke his nose."
Bullshit. He was so goddamn patronizing. "Crowley ain't got the guts to go against me or mine on his own." Man was a fuckin' coward.
"I know how important family is to you. I feel the same way. Come on in, Merle, and I'll let you handle Crowley's punishment yourself."
Lyin' bastard. "Sorry, Gov. Can't do that. Gonna find a safe place for my daughter and Woodbury ain't it."
"I hate to hear that, Merle. I don't know what we'll do without you...what I'll do." There was a short moment of silence then the Governor asked, "What about Martinez and Rowan...are they dead too?"
Like the man really gives a shit. "Yep."
"Let me bring the bodies back for a proper funeral."
"The girl...biters got her...nothin' left. Find the others yourself, sir." Merle paused a moment and pressed the 'talk' button again, "Oh, and Gov, be sure to watch your back. Dixon, over and out." Then he removed the batteries from the walkie talkie and tossed it all into the backseat.
They watched the house for an hour and nothing or no one came out. Amanda was really starting to doubt that she'd seen anything at all. She put her hand on Caesar's shoulder. "I'm sorry. It must've been a shadow."
The man just shook his head, his eyes never leaving the window. "Don't be sorry. Maybe it was or maybe they just didn't come back out yet. Can't take any chances this close to Woodbury."
"I'll take watch for a while, Caesar," Rowan offered.
He nodded, "Thanks Ro." He stood up, stretching his arms over his head.
"Ro?" she asked skeptically.
He smiled and tugged her ponytail. "Why not?"
"Whatever," she chuckled and took her place at the window.
Caesar and Amanda went down to the kitchen and she showed him the spread. "We have water chestnuts or cream of celery soup."
"That's it?" he asked, disappointed at his choices, or lack of.
She smiled, hiding something behind her back. "I have one more surprise."
"Give it to me, babe." His stomach grumbled.
"Ta da!" She held out the can for him to examine.
"Cranberry sauce?" He asked frowning. "You've got to be kidding me."
"You don't like it?" Amanda laughed at the look of disappointment on his face. "Well, I guess we can check with the neighbors," she suggested.
He shook his head once, a soft apologetic look on his face. "Nope. Don't wanna split up. Not until Merle gets back. Anyway, I think he has supplies in that truck he's got stashed away."
"Okay, I wanna see if anything's left in the greenhouse." She unlocked the door and stepped out onto the porch.
"Amanda! Wait!" Caesar yelled.
She ran smack into Crowley. Amanda turned to run but the man jerked her backward cutting her scream short with a hand around her throat and a gun to her head.
"Crowley, man, just let her go." Martinez stepped slowly out holding his empty hands up.
Backing away, a wet and bedraggled Crowley pulled Amanda off the porch with him. "You turn traitor, too, Martinez?"
Caesar shook his head. "No, man. Let the girl go before Dixon sees you."
"That sorry piece o' white trash ain't here. Saw 'im leave. That's how I found ya'll. It was fate...right place, right time," he gloated
"You can't win this one, Crowley" Martinez said moving to the edge of the porch. "You know that, don't you?"
"Shut up. I don't give a fuck about you. Governor wants this little bitch back. You just go on back in, Martinez." He eased toward the sidewalk with the struggling woman.
Caesar's eyes looked past Crowley then quickly back. There was a man coming down the street headed their way. He was armed and it wasn't Dixon. Fuck. Crowley brought backup.
"Whatcha looking at?" Crowley demanded, craning his neck, trying to get better view while dragging Amanda with him.
"Thought I saw someone," answered Martinez.
"Bullshit."
"Could be Dixon," he lied. This man had two hands. It wasn't Merle Dixon.
"Shut up!" Crowley shouted, aimed his gun and fired but Amanda tripped him up enough that the bullet went wide and missed Caesar by at least foot.
Martinez hit the ground and pulled his own weapon from the back of his pants, trying to get a clear shot at Crowley.
"Drop it!" yelled a lanky man who'd just run into the yard behind Crowley with his own weapon pointed at the man's head.
"Rick!" Amanda cried out and Crowley pressed the barrel of the gun harder into her head. He found her! He actually found her. She knew he would come find her.
"You okay, Mandy?" Rick asked. Tears rolled down her cheeks but she nodded just enough for him to see.
Crowley snorted harshly. "Rick, huh? I knew you were lying, you little bitch. No way you were alone. Told the Gov, as much." He pulled her head back by her hair, exposing her bruised neck even more.
Icy fingers gripped Rick's stomach at the sight of her. She'd been roughed up pretty bad. One eye was swollen shut, her lips were cut and swollen...and that's just what he could see. Oh god, what else did this man do to her? Stay calm, man, he told himself. Hopefully his years of police experience would pay off now as he tried to keep his emotions in check. "Let the woman go and we'll see what we can work out," he said in what he hoped was a calm, authoritative voice that told this asshole he was not fucking around.
"I have what I want," the man just laughed. Then it dawned on him. "She was yours, wasn't she? Tight little pussy. Lucky man...least you were. She's mine now." He slowly licked the side of her face from jaw to forehead. Amanda tried to lean away but he held her tight, his hand painfully tangled up in her hair.
Rick swallowed hard and held his gun steady. He knew the man was baiting him but it didn't help his fury.
"Don't get too close," Crowley warned as he moved toward the street, keeping Amanda between himself and the others as a shield. "I gotta truck just down the street. We're going there nice and slow...ya'll just stay here. Hey, Martinez, tell Dixon, sorry I missed his redneck ass."
"You ain't missed me, here I am." A lean man with a crossbow came around the other side of the house.
"Dixon? You ain't Dixon. Who the fuck...," The realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. "Son of a bitch. Must be the little brother Dixon was always going on about. Just thought ol' Merle was crazy."
When Daryl saw his niece's face, he almost lost control. "Why you sorry mother fuckin'..." and he raised the crossbow level with the man's head.
"You're just a redneck piece o' shit white trash like your brother." Crowley laughed. "Stay back. Both of you. We're going now."
"Where the fuck ya think you're goin' with my niece?"
"He's going to his truck, Daryl." Rick answered, never taking his eyes off the man with the gun to Amanda's head.
"Well, hell," Daryl replied. "I guess we'll be going to his truck, too."
Crowley paused for a second clearly unsure of what to do next. "Wait, you stupid damn hicks. We ain't all going. Martinez, where's the hell is the Governor's whore?"
"The blonde or dark-haired one?" Caesar asked casually.
"The dark-haired one, you asshole."
Martinez shrugged. "Beats the hell outta me, Crowley. Biters must've got her."
"Stupid bitch," he muttered under his breath. "Martinez, go get my truck and bring it back here."
"Why'd I do that, man?"
"Cuz I'll kill you and this bitch."
"You're not gonna kill her. She's your ticket back to Woodbury, practically said so yourself."
"Shut up and get the fucking truck, Martinez!"
"Hoping ya ain't talkin' about that blue F150 parked 'round the corner," The younger Dixon brother said.
Crowley whipped his head in his direction.
"Well, shit, man," Daryl smirked. "Hate to be the one to tell ya, but some redneck piece o' shit white trash cut the battery cable out." And he threw the piece on the ground at the other man's feet.
"Bastard!" Crowley shouted, then aimed his gun and at fired Daryl, who loosed a bolt into his skull at the same time Rick put a bullet in his brain.
Amanda screamed and fell to the ground with Crowley. Daryl ran to catch his niece but Rick reached her first. He scooped her in his arms and she sobbed against his chest. "I knew you would find me, Rick! I knew you and Daryl would find me." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"Mandy, hon, I was so scared." Rick held her face, "My God, baby. What did he do to you?" He gently kissed her bruised face and held her close. She winced as Rick gently ran his hands down her back and over her ribs. "Where else are you hurt?"
"I'm okay, now," she murmured into his chest, feeling his heart pound against her cheek.
Moving over stand over his niece and Rick, Daryl aimed his crossbow at Caesar who held his hands up. "Hey man, I'm on your side. I'm a friend of Merle's."
"Merle's alive?" He was half-asking, half-stating it. Almost afraid to hope...he'd finally found out something. Daryl let out a shaky breath. "Well, c'mon then. Tell me where my brother is," he demanded, not lowering his weapon.
"Went to get his truck," Caesar stated carefully, not taking his eyes off the man with the crossbow aimed at his head.
"He's okay, Daryl," Amanda said, slowly standing up with Rick's help. "Caesar, this is Rick, I told you about him last night and that's Daryl, my uncle."
The men nodded at each other. Daryl reluctantly lowered his weapon. She ran into his arms and he caught her with a "oomph" followed by an "ouch."
"I'm so glad you're here." She said kissed him on the cheek.
He carefully hugged and then asked, gesturing with his crossbow to the man he just shot, "Who the fuck was that?"
Amanda looked down at Crowley's lifeless body. "The sick fuck who gave me my new makeover," she waved a hand over her face. She walked over to the corpse and knelt down. "Bastard has something that belongs to me," she said, wrinkling up her nose, she dug around in his front pocket, pulling out her mother-of-pearl handled knife. "This is mine. My daddy gave it me, you disgusting mother fucker." She opened her knife and began stabbing the body in the chest and below the belt.
"Mandy!" Rick started to grab her shoulders.
"Let her go," said Caesar, stepping off the porch. The three men stood around uncomfortably trying not to watch as she mutilated the body.
When the corpse was nothing but an unrecognizable mess, Amanda stood up shakily, taking the rag Daryl handed her, and wiped the bloody knife clean. Rick put a protective arm around her shoulders to steady her. "Let's go home, baby."
Amanda folded the knife and stuck it in her pocket. "We have to wait for Daddy. I found him, Rick. I found him." She wrapped her arms around his waist, finding unbelievable comfort in his presence. She closed her eyes, relaxing in his embrace, knowing exactly what it felt like to be loved and in love.
Rick and Daryl glanced at each other over her head. Just then a large black truck screeched to stop on the sidewalk in front of them. Merle jumped out brandishing his knife attachment on the right and a gun in the left hand. "Daryl?"
"Merle!" Daryl slung his bow onto his back and moved toward his brother. Merle grabbed him into a big bear hug and slapped him heartily on the back.
"Goddamn boy, I think you've growed." Merle exclaimed at his baby brother. Daryl grinned and punched him in the arm. "Shit boy, you have." He laughed rubbing his arm. "Hey Martinez, Did you meet my br..." Merle Dixon stopped mid-sentence. Something wasn't right. Amanda was covered in blood. There was a body on the ground. But that wasn't quite it. Ladybug smiled at him...then she smiled at the man behind her...but it wasn't right. He shook his head slowly. The man had his arms around his baby girl...he fucking knew him...he fucking knew the bastard! The fucking bastard who had his fucking arms around his baby girl was the fucking bastard that fucking cuffed him to the roof in Atlanta...who fucking left him like an animal to die...His own blood pounding so hard in his ears...he could hear anything but the blood pounding in his ears...a red haze blurred his vision...everything...everything except the hated face of the bastard before him. The face that haunted his fucking nightmares.
He pulled out his gun and aimed at the fucking bastard's head. "Ladybug," he said, calming, looking the man in the eye, "Move away."
The smile on Amanda's face fell and she moved herself in front of Rick. "Daddy! What are you doing? Put your gun down!"
Taking a step closer, he yelled, "Now, baby girl!" Vengeance was finally within his reach. Get outta the fucking way, baby girl!
What the hell was wrong with her father? Had he lost his mind? Did he think Rick was going to hurt her the way Crowley did? "Daddy! This is..."
"The prick who cuffed me to the roof top in Atlanta." Merle finished the sentence for her.
She couldn't have heard that right. "What?" She kept herself between her daddy and Rick, but turned to look at the man she loved, still not quite comprehending the words her daddy spoke. No, not Rick. He must be mistaken. Her eyes pleaded with him to deny the accusation. There was none forthcoming. Oh God no, Please no! Rick had his own gun pointed at Merle by this time. "Is this true, Rick? You left my Daddy on the roof?"
"Mandy..." Rick didn't want to look away from Merle's gun. He couldn't if he wanted to live. He reached a hand toward Amanda in an attempt to comfort her. This is certainly not how he intended for her to find out. He was supposed to tell her calmly, rationally, make her see he had no choice.
She clapped her hands over her mouth and shook her head. Oh my God! It is true. Then she launched herself at him, swinging her fists. Rick held his gun up out of the way and didn't fend off her blows. "How could you do that! How could you!" She beat his chest until she ran out of steam. She looked up at the man she thought she knew, thought she loved.
"Mandy, hon," Rick started again, his eyes flicking away from Merle to her for a second, silently pleading with her to listen to reason.
She held her hand up for him to stop. Her uncle stepped forward opening his mouth. "You knew, Daryl? You fucking knew and you didn't tell me, either?"
Daryl sighed heavily. "Possum, things were different back..."
"You don't get to speak to me!" she said and shoved Daryl hard in the chest almost knocking him on his ass. "Unbelievable! What is wrong with you people?"
"Get out of the way, Amanda!" her dad yelled.
Daryl slung his crossbow over his shoulder and rubbed his face with his hands. What a fuckin' mess. He should have told Amanda from the beginning. He just wanted to protect her from the ugly truth. He didn't want her to lose hope that her daddy could still be alive. He moved closer to his brother. He had to get him to calm down. He needed to get Merle's fuckin' gun out of Rick's face, away from Amanda. "We looked for you, Merle. Me and Rick, we went back but you was already gone."
"I know little brother," Merle said still keeping an eye on Rick, gun still raised. "What I don't understand is why you didn't shoot this fucker in the face for me when you found out he left me to die."
"Merle, things is different, now." Daryl stepped in front of his brother.
Merle lowered his gun for a moment. "Yeah, like you picked this mother fucker over your own family."
"Ain't never picked no one over you. You was gone. Then walkers attacked the camp..." Daryl shook his head sadly. "There ain't much of us left."
"And now there's gonna be one less." Merle raised his gun again and pulled the hammer back. "Daryl, get the fuck out of the way." He looked past his brother to his daughter and said in a softer voice, "Move, baby girl and let your ol' daddy take care of this sorry mother fucker."
Amanda let out a shaky breath but stood her ground. How could Rick not tell her? Why was Daryl even friends with the man after what he did? Shit...but she couldn't let her daddy kill him. What about Carl and Judith? "I can't let you shoot him, Daddy." Amanda turned to Rick, hurt and betrayal in her eyes. She shook her head sadly and then looked back at her father. "He has two young children without a momma. You can't take their daddy, too."
"Goddamn it, Ladybug!" Merle scowled at her. Fuck!
Amanda gently wrapped her hand around her father's left wrist and pushed down until the muzzle pointed at the ground. "I know what I felt like when I thought you might be dead, Daddy. Please don't do that to those little kids." She pleaded softy, a single tear rolled down her bruised and swollen cheek.
"Dixon!" Daryl involuntarily jerked his head around at Caesar. Merle kept his eyes glued on his daughter. "Sorry to interrupt this little family reunion but there's a herd of biters coming this way."
"Everyone get upstairs!" Merle ordered like a man used to being in charge. He ran to his truck, grabbed a large duffle bag and threw it at Rick, before grabbing one for himself.
Daryl pulled his bolt from Crowley's skull, wiped off the blood and reloaded his crossbow before following Amanda into the house. He pushed her through the door with a firm shove to the back.
Merle kicked the door to the house shut behind him and motioned for Rick to lock it before following the rest of the group up the stairs. The two men stared hard at each other. "Be assured," Merle promised, "We ain't through, yet, Officer Friendly."
Endless thanks to Siarh for patiently helping me work out the little details and keep all the facts straight.
Thanks to all my readers. Your support is much appreciated! Please take a moment to leave a review and let me know what you think.
Happy reading!