A/N

SOME SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4.

My version of the last few episodes of season 4. The next few chapters will cover what happens until the season finale and then it's completely AU until the end.

Thanks for reading

xxx

Chapter 22

He'd been with the group for several days and he still hated all of them. He knew they felt the same about him but he didn't care. He'd only stayed with them because it was better than being alone, but now he planned to leave at the first opportunity. He'd almost killed one of them in a dispute over a rabbit he'd tracked and shot. The man, Len, had tried to take it and then told Daryl they all thought he was walking around like a dead man 'cos he'd lost a piece of tail and that it must of been a good one. He'd pulled his knife but as he turned to use it Joe had caught his arm, stopping him. Joe then filled him in with their dumb 'claimed' rule. If you saw something you wanted all you had to do was say claimed and the others couldn't take it. The only other rule they had was that you didn't lie. Joe had then cut the rabbit in half and he'd ended up with the butt end. Later that day Len had tried to set him up by hiding the top end of the rabbit in his bag and accusing him of stealing it. Luckily for Daryl, Joe had seen Len put the rabbit in his bag and told the rest of the gang to teach him a lesson for lying. They had surrounded Len and started violently beating him. Daryl had retreated away from the group, wanting nothing to do with this. The next morning he'd seen Len's battered body, dumped on the ground with a bolt through his eye. The rest of the group had watched him to see his reaction, so he'd approached the body and calmly pulled out the bolt, cleaned it off and attached it to his crossbow. This seemed to meet with their approval. They were following train tracks and Joe explained to him they were tracking a man who had killed one of their colleagues in a house they had been staying in.

"Son of a bitch strangled him and left him to turn, so he came after the rest of us. Now were gonna find him and teach him a lesson." In Joe's warped mind this was a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Daryl decided that once they found this man that would be the time to slip away. Maybe he would be better on his own.

It was late one night and they were about to make camp when one of the group members, Tony returned from scouting ahead to say they had found the man. He was camped on the side of the road with a woman and a kid. Daryl stayed behind in the forest as the group surrounded the man and woman, holding them at gun point. He was about to leave when he saw the man's face for the first time. It was Rick, Michonne was next to him and Carl was on the backseat of a car parked on the road. Joe held a gun to Ricks head, another man had his foot on Michonne's katana and was pointing a gun at her face. A third man opened the car door and pulled Carl out, throwing him to the ground and pinning him down, leering at the young boy in a way that made Daryl's stomach turn. He couldn't leave now, keeping his crossbow down he stepped onto the road. Joe was counting down from ten as Daryl stepped forward.

"Stop" he called out "You aint gonna kill them" The rest of the gang pointed their weapons at him, but Joe told him to speak his mind.

"These are good people" he spoke calmly "I understand you want blood, but take it from me" he dropped his crossbow and knife to the floor.

Joe stared at him for a while, looking disappointed.

"You say they're good people, but this one killed our man. That aint good so therefore that was a lie. Teach him a lesson, boys, teach him all the way." Three of the gang dropped their weapons and laid into him. Rick half rose to his feet but Joe shoved him back down, pushing the gun into his cheek.

"They had nothing to do with it, it was all down to me, I killed your man" Rick tried to reason with Joe, but he just smiled

"I know" he said "but this is how it gonna go down, first my boys will beat Daryl to death, then we have the woman, then the boy, then I blow your head off. Then we're even"

Michonne tried taking a swing at the man pointing a gun at her but he pushed her back down.

"Easy woman" he laughed "Wait your turn, you'll get yours"

Suddenly a voice called "Howdy boys, looks like y'all having a good time here"

The men stopped beating Daryl and looked up, Daryl tried to see through the blood running down his face and Joe's face broke into a wide smile.

"Well, lookie here boys, this night just keeps gettin' better"

Standing on the roof of the car Carl had been sleeping in was Eleanor. She was wearing denim shorts that seemed shorter than ever and a flannel shirt that was knotted across her midriff, revealing a lot of stomach. Several buttons were undone and she was showing a great deal of cleavage. Her rifle was slung casually across her shoulder and her honey blonde hair was loose down her back. She smiled at the men, resting her hand on her hip.

Keeping the gun pressed against Rick, Joe smiled back at her.

"Well Honey," he said smoothly "Why don't you just come on down and join the fun?"

"Yer know, I think I might just do that" she walked to the edge of the roof and then slid down the windscreen to stand on the hood "though we have just got a teeny problem" she purred, flicking her hair back.

"And what would that be?" Joe was intrigued.

"Well, you seem to o' found something I bin after a long time" She was exaggerating her southern accent, and making her voice husky and low, all eyes were on her.

"And that is?" Joe asked curiously.

She smiled sweetly and pointed at Daryl "Him" she said simply.

The men laughed and cat called, making crude jokes as she stood there patiently waiting. Joe quietened them down before asking why she was searching for Daryl.

"Met up with the bastard on the road, couple of weeks back. Decided to stick around, thought we were gettin' on real well, if you know what I mean" she winked at them before continuing "then we get attacked by a load o' the undead and the son of a bitch goes and leaves me, to save himself. Shoves me right into a group of the stinkin' things while he high tails it out of there. I didn't take too kindly to that so I bin trackin' him ever since."

"Now why would he go and leave a fine piece like you?" Joe mused. Before she could reply Daryl pulled himself to his feet and spoke up.

"'Cos the damn bitch was a pain in the ass. She was great in the sack a couple of times, then she got all clingy and demandin'. Was glad to see the back of her" he glared up at her, hoping she knew what she was doing.

The men laughed out loud, "Should of slapped her down a bit, got her under control" one of them called.

"Now, that aint a nice thing to say about a lady" Joe watched her, a thoughtful look on his face.

"We're kinda in the middle of somethin' here so why don't you go and get reacquainted with Daryl there while I finish off my business , then we can all get friendly later."

Eleanor smiled and jumped from the hood of the car.

"Sounds like a plan" she strode up to Daryl and punched him hard on the jaw, he let himself fall to the ground, guessing she had a plan and going along with it. The men laughed as she hit him; while they were distracted she pulled a hand gun from the back of her waistband and shot two of them. Rick took advantage of the distraction and lunged backwards, slamming his head into Joe's face. Joe fell back, clutching his bloody nose.

"You just made things so much worse" he yelled, swinging a punch at Rick, knocking him down and kicking him in the ribs.

Michonne leapt to her feet and grabbed the gun from the man in front of her, shooting him in the throat. Daryl rolled over, got to his feet and punched the last gang member near him. The man fell and Daryl stamped down on his throat, throttling him.

Michonne and Eleanor were both pointing guns at the man holding Carl. He had pulled the boy to his feet and was holding a knife across his throat.

"I'll kill him" he cried, eyes darting from one to the other.

Joe punched Rick again and the sheriff slumped forward, falling against Joe, wrapping his arms around him, as if hugging him.

"Whatcha gonna do now?" Joe sneered. Rick lunged forward and ripped a chunk of Joe's throat out with his teeth. He spat the skin and blood out as he let go and Joe fell to the ground, blood gushing from the wound. Rick turned to face the man holding Carl, reaching down he pulled the knife from Joe's belt and advanced on the now terrified man.

"Leave him" he snarled at Michonne and Eleanor "He's mine" The man shoved Carl away and tried to run, but Rick plunged the knife into his stomach time and again. Michonne held Carl tightly against her as they watched his father kill the man that had threatened his son.

YAH - Together again :)