A.N. I'm sorry I'm not updating this story as fast as I wished, I just don't have as much time as I used to. Also it's more difficult to write than I imagined. I mean I have the whole story planed, but writing it is really hard! Anyway, thanks for reading and please review! :)

CHAPTER 5

"Well, I'd be damned!" echoed a voice from behind trees. "If it isn't our old friend Daryl!"

Daryl quickly loaded his crossbow and aimed it at whoever was coming their way as Sam did the same with his knife. They soon realised it was hopeless as they saw more than a dozen Saviors circling them with guns pointing directly at them.

"I gotta tell you," the man continued, "you are one sneaky son of a bitch, you know that?" he said with a smirk. "Man, Negan is going to be thrilled to have his favorite pet back!"

Daryl stayed silent as Simon approached his face way too close to his, placing a knife on his throat. Sam stressfully watched the scene as he was being held at gun point by the mustachioed man's friends. He knew better than to try anything, since he and Daryl were seriously out numbered. He tried to look around without drawing any attention to him, in desperate search for his big brother. Part of him was worried as hell that Dean wasn't there with them, but he tried to think that it was because he got away and wasn't in any kind of trouble. Although, he knew Dean by heart, and it wasn't like him to just hide and not try anything to save his little brother.

"And you got a new friend! This day just keeps on getting better!" Simon said patting Sam's shoulder with a big smile on his face. His amusing and sarcastic face changed quickly as he turned to his people and commended that they'd bring the prisoners back to the Sanctuary.

Further away in the forest, Dean Winchester was still walking fast, pissed off at the world. He kept thinking about what Sam said. He couldn't get his head around the fact that Cas was probably dead by now and that's why he hadn't heard from him. All these thoughts and anger raced through his mind so fast that he didn't even realise he was now completely alone in an unknown wood, filled with walkers and God knows what else. He stopped abruptly and looked around cautiously. His heart was beating fast as he slowly started to walk back, gun pointing at the darkness of the forest.

"Sam?" he whispered loudly a few times, without an answer.

He walked for a few minutes before he found what used to be Ruby's knife, which his brother always kept on him. Dean felt his heart skip a beat, like the world was now turning in slow motion.

"No.. no, no, no, no..." he whispered to himself looking around in desperation. "SAM!" he screamed. "DARYL?" Dean felt hopeless; his only job was to keep his brother safe and he couldn't even do that because of his damn stubbornness. All he could think about was Sam being eaten out by some walkers in this shithole of a forest. He stayed silent for a moment, looking down at the knife, and then he remembered what Rick said: "Walkers ain't the problem anymore. It's people we gotta worry about now." He felt his heart pumping in his chest as a thought full of hope crossed his mind; if he was lucky, Sam and Daryl were taken by humans, which meant there was still a chance he could save them. He started to run through the forest, back to where they'd all been coming from. It was hard to follow a trace, since any sign of struggle could be confused with fallen leaves and branches, but Dean had been hunting his whole life, and he was damn good at following a trace. He walked cautiously but fast for a while before he heard voices coming from what seemed like a nearby road. Now full of hope, Dean stepped up his pace towards the voices, but got out of the wood just as Sam and Daryl were tossed inside the cars and drove away. He screamed and ran after the car, but quickly faced the fact that it was pointless. He watched hopelessly as his little brother was being taken away from him.

Dean stayed still in the middle of the road for a while, holding back tears. He was blaming himself for whatever might happen to his brother. He couldn't help but think about all the horrors those people might do to Sam. Those thoughts were enough to give him the strength and the determination to get back in the forest and get to his car in order to get the precious weapon. He would need them if he ever wanted to deliver his brother.

After what seemed like forever, Dean arrived at the main road where he and Sam had left the car the day before. It was crashed into a tree, but the damaged didn't seem too bad. Dean briefly smiled at the sight of his car.

"It's good to see you Baby!"

He opened the trunk to make sure that everything was still in their place before he got into the front seat. Dean put the key in the ignition and tried to start the car, unsuccessfully.

"Come on Baby, come on" he said as the engine started to growl. After a couple of tries, the car finally started, making Dean sighed in relief. He managed to get his car up and running on the road again and drove back to Alexandria as fast as he could.

"OPEN THE GATES!" screamed Dean to the guards as he finally arrived to the little post-apocalyptic town. The people on the fence did as they were asked and Dean entered the town with his '67 Chevrolet Impala.

It seemed like some people had rapidly notified Rick and the others about the suspect car coming through, because they quickly arrived at the gates as soon as they shut behind Dean. Rick noticed that only the older Winchester was sitting in the car and that his friend was nowhere to be found.

"What the hell happened? Where's Daryl?" asked Rick with deep concern in his voice. He approached Dean as he shut the front door behind him.

"I don't know! They're gone! They took them! They took my brother!" said Dean really fast with somewhat of a confused and angry voice.

"Who? Who took them?" asked Rick.

"I- I don't know…"

"Think."

Dean was still pretty confused and full of anger, but he quickly shook himself up as there was no time to waste. "They might have been what, 10-12 people? I think I heard something about a Sanctuary, I mean, that's a good thing, right? It's like a refuge maybe? For survivors?" He thought out loud with a voice full of hope, thinking that maybe his little brother was taken to a good place. Although, he quickly lost all hope as he saw Rick's expression. "What?" he asked.

Rick took a deep breath, as he felt completely hopeless. "The Sanctuary is far from a refuge."

"Then what is it?" Dean asked, concerned.

"It's where the Saviors live." Rick answered as he started to walk back.

Dean followed him as he desperately needed more answers. "And that's a bad thing?"

"Yes" answered Rick, trying to focus on making a plan in his head, but somehow kept being interrupted.

"Then let's go get them, what are we waiting for? Do you know where it is?"

Rick stopped walking and looked Dean dead in the eye before saying "Yes! Yes, I know where it is, but as I told you, we don't have any weapons. And before we make any moves, we need a plan."

"Look Sheriff Dickhead, I don't care that you're in charge here, it's my little brother we're talking about. I've always had one job : protect little Sammy. But I couldn't even do that. So I'm sorry, if this isn't the way you usually do things around here, but I'm going. Right now. And you're gonna tell me where it is, or I'll make you." Dean said in his most serious tone.

The two men starred at each other for a moment in front of curious people gathered around them, before Rick spoke. "We take your car. And you let me do the talking."

"Fine." said Dean.

"Fine." Answered Rick. "But we'll go in the morning, it's pretty damn late."

"I said now."

"Yeah, and I said tomorrow. Don't you think I wouldn't do everything to get Daryl back? He's like a brother to me. But we're useless unless we get a few hours of sleep. I'll make sure a team is ready to come with us in the morning."

Dean sighed in anger. "Fine." He said before hurrying back to his car. He went ahead and parked it in front of Maggie's house, where he assumed he'd spend the night again. He knocked on the door, but as there was no answer, he let himself in.

Dean was exhausted, physically and emotionally. He fell heavily on the couch, completely drained and out of energy. He closed his eyes and rested his face in his hands, thinking he'd never felt that hopeless in his entire life. He was confused and alone, still no sure how they got themselves into this walker apocalypse crap. He lift his head up, eyes still shut, and joined his hands together.

Hey, Cas, it's me. I don't know where you are, Hell, I don't even know if you're alive, but I need your help, buddy. It's Sam, he's been taken and I don't know if this time I'll be able to save him. I need you Cas, I miss you. Please come back.

Just as Dean was about to give up and go to sleep, he heard a fading flutter of wings.