Hi guys! Here comes another chapter and as usual I'm sorry it took so long to update:-( There are just one or two chapters left before I wrap it up so I hope I won't disappoint you. Thank you very much for all your reviews, they mean everything to me!

Carol curled into a ball when the blows started to rain. The years with Ed had trained her well enough. She lied motionlessly, hiding her head in her arms and protecting her ribs, careful not to do anything what would infuriate the man even more. She felt metallic taste of blood in her mouth and spat it out. She groaned when she received exceptionally hard kick into her stomach and with that he grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled her up roughly, bringing his nose inches from his own face.

"You are used to being a punchbag, right?" he hissed into her face, "I'll have to think of something better for you darling. But don't you worry, I'm not going to kill you. I will gladly render this pleasure to your friends."

Carol tried to concentrate on his words but she was aching all over and her vision was blurred. He dropped her on the ground again and wiped off his bloody knuckles on the handkerchief he pulled out of his pocket.

One of his men dragged her back into the room they were sharing. She heard Beth's piercing shout and then she felt somebody supporting her, but she was too exhausted to open her eyes.

Carl laid her gently on the mattress. He was violently shaking with anger. He looked at the door and then back to beaten Carol. His father would have come up with something, would have found the way out of here, his father would have fought.

He got up and decisively went to the door. Beth lifted her head and froze:

"Carl, what are you doing?"

"Gotta do something," Carl replied through his clenched teeth.

"Carl don't, they'll kill you," Beth didn't manage to hide the panic in her voice and Carol, who felt Beth's tremor, opened her eyes too.

Before she could manage to stop Carl, Andrea's weak voice startled them all.

"Carl…if you draw his attention to yourself, he will slowly torture you to death. He will take his time and nothing will stop him…your age, your begging…nothing. He's just waiting for an opportunity, look what he's done to Carol and me."

Beth shivered at her words but sighed in relief when Carl stopped hesitantly and looked back at three women behind him. But before he could say anything, the door swung open and five men came in.

Carol tried to focus on what was happening around her but it was getting more and more difficult as her head was throbbing mercilessly and she felt that her right eye started swelling up. It was when she felt a pair of strong hands on her arms and realized they wanted to separate them.

Carl kicked the man who grabbed him and tried to sneak past him towards the door, which only earned him a hard punch to his stomach and the boy collapsed to the ground. Beth screamed and tried to fight her guard too.

"Beth! Calm down! There's no point in fighting them," it was Andrea again, trying to talk some sense into the youngsters, while one of the guards was already dragging her towards the door.

Judith's wail cut through the air and Carol's senses suddenly sharpened as she rushed towards the baby, her aching body protesting violently. She shielded the baby with her body but couldn't help and chuckled ironically when she saw a big bald man approaching her. She stood no chance and she knew it. She looked over her shoulder at Judith and her eyes welled up with tears. The next moment the darkness embraced her.

Carol woke up only for long enough to realize that she was alone in some cold and dark room. The pain hit her again and she huddled her knees closer to her chest with a muffled sob. She tried to hold the sobs in her chests but eventually gave up, hiding face in her hands and bursting into tears. The life had never been easy on her but she had never felt worse than now.

She was broken useless woman, abandoned in the middle of apocalypse. She'd stayed alive and had to watch all her loved ones die. She didn't deserve to stay alive instead of them. She didn't know what she'd done so wrong to be punished this way. To lose her little girl, only to find her turned and being shot in front of her eyes. And she definitely didn't deserve to stay here instead of Daryl. Daryl, who had been so well equipped for survival in this world. Harsh, unpredictable, complicated man, who'd stolen her heart the night, when her desperate muffled cries had driven him out into the woods to look for her Sophia in the middle of the night.

She tried to remember his kiss, his body pressed to hers; she was trying to hold on to any good memory. But her brain didn't seem to cooperate, covering all her attempts under the thick mantle of dizziness and pain. They'd had their chances but they'd wasted them all. The time was up now.

Glenn was getting better and better every day, his shoulder healing quickly, much to Maggie's delight. Daryl had eventually understood that he needed to stay put to get better and he let Hershel took care of him, silently suffering from attention the rest of the group was paying him.

Frustrated beyond belief by his temporary incapableness, Daryl had had a terrible quarrel with Rick one day. Daryl could have felt Rick's irritation and he could have told the poor man had been tortured every minute, which had passed, while he had been sitting helplessly in the prison.

But it all had just added to Daryl's pent-up frustration and before he'd known it, he'd ended up yelling at Rick that he should have gone to Woodbury to get their people back right after the Governor's men had left. Daryl had known he hadn't been right and fair to him, but he hadn't been able to stop himself, once the words had left his mouth, letting the fear for Carol, Andrea and the kids cloud his judgment.

He'd been taken aback, when Rick had stormed to his bedside and Daryl had known he'd never been closer to getting his ass kicked by Rick. But with a steel self-control, which only Rick had possessed; he'd got his emotions under control and had left.

Unlike Michonne. She had scolded Daryl like a little boy, calling him insensitive and ignorant idiot, which Daryl had meekly accepted, already feeling like an asshole. But he also couldn't have helped it and smirked, realizing that it had been his unjustifiable behavior that had made the quiet woman put together more than two sentences. Michonne had just wiped off his grin with another scold.

Daryl had apologized to Rick later on and the argument had cleared the air in the prison but still hadn't eased the waiting for his recovery.

The Governor's men came and went, sometimes bringing her food and water, sometimes beating her, especially when she asked about the others.

She knew it wasn't smart to provoke them, but she thought she'd heard Carl's cry in the other room and she had to find out if they were still alive.

The Governor didn't return to her since the first beating and she wasn't sure wheter to be relieved or afraid that he'd picked another victim.

She knew it was just a matter of time before they beat them to death, kill them or rape them, and she was desperately praying for more time.

Merle wrinkled his forehead when he heard a baby wailing behind the door. He was quite certain there hadn't been any newborn children recently in Woodbury. With his good hand he grabbed the man, who trying to sneak past him.

He wasn't the most popular guy since his return to Woodbury, people didn't believe him. But he didn't give a shit about people, he'd gain the Governor's trust again, although having to pay a heavy price, and that was all what mattered.

"Whose's that fuckin' kid yellin' behind that door?"

The man hunched forward under Merle's unexpected attack, obviously knowing nothing. Merle let him go, grunting in disgust.

"Bunch of useless idiots, aren't ya?" he cursed under his breath as he grabbed a door handle and slowly pull it down. He was surprised when the door cracked and opened. He looked around and when he was sure nobody could seem him, he stepped in the room.

It was a hot stuffy room with a travel cot in the middle. The bottles with baby formula and diapers were laid on the small table next to the cot. There was also a rocking chair with a huge pillow. He peeked into the cot and swallowed hard, not able to believe the twists of fortune. There, cheeks flushed and yelling her lungs out, was lying Rick Grime's infant daughter. All he had to do was to wait unless Officer Friendly marches directly into his waiting arms. There had been just one plan, which hadn't fallen through yet. It was revenge.

Merle knew that the kid wasn't in Woodbury alone. He wanted to enter the room just next to the Judith's, but it was locked. He cursed and took out a thin wire from his pocket and the door let go in a few seconds.

When he opened the door, the tiny figure sitting in the corner stood up. It was farmer's younger daughter, now staring at him with her eyes wide open.

"Merle?" her voice was full of hesitation but he could also recognize a spark of hope.

Ya bet on the wrong horse lady, Merle thought as he noticed the bruises on her face and arms.

"What are you doing here?" Beth asked.

"I was just about to ask ya the same thing girl," Merle grumbled and stepped closer to her.

"The Governor kidnapped us from the prison. Me…," Beth stopped in the middle of her sentence and eyed Merle cautiously. She didn't know what exactly had happened in the prison but Daryl must have had a good damn reason to kick his brother out. It was more likely she was talking to their enemy rather than a friend. She bit her tongue, hoping she hadn't revealed too much already.

She looked at Merle again and gasped when she noticed his good hand. His ring finger and little finger were missing. The stumps were bandaged now, but the fingers had been obviously cut off not a long time ago.

Merle followed her look and grimaced wryly.

"Well, ya can't exactly turn yer back to Governor and then just come back and pretend nothin' happened. I did try though."

Before he realized what she was doing, Beth approached him, gently took his hand into hers and observed it more closely. She winced a pain as it was her fingers missing, not his. When she raised her head to meet his gaze, sadness was written all over her bruised young face.

"I'm sorry Merle."

He was staring down at her in disbelief and instinctively took an abrupt step back.

"What the hell?"

Beth felt sorry for the man. Her dad was talking about him as about tortured man and when she was looking to his eyes now, she knew what he'd meant.

There was no one else she could ask for help and Beth had just decided to give it a try. No matter how different from his younger brother Merle was, he could be their last and only chance.

"Merle, there are more of us…Carl, Carol, Andrea and Judith…can you help us?"

Merle shook his head. He wasn't sure if the girl was making fun of him or if she'd lost her mind somewhere throughout the beating.

"I don't give a fuck about your people kiddo! The only person I've ever fuckin' cared about was my baby brother and you took him from me!" he approached Beth again and grunted in satisfaction when he saw a panic in her face, "I bet yer officer friendly with his bunch of friends are comin' to get you soon and I can't wait to see him again. And I'm pretty sure I'll be able to talk some sense into my lil'bro this time."

Something in Beth's face made him stop. She dropped her eyes to her feet.

"Daryl's dead Merle. He was shot during the attack on the prison."

Merle just looked at her, open his mouth and then closed it again. He thought his brain stopped working for a while; he wasn't able to catch a single thought. He abruptly turned his back to the girl and strode to the door, which suddenly cracked open.

He stood face to face to Jones, one of the Governor's henchmen. He was already losing his belt, leaving no doubts about his intentions. He stopped dead in his tracks when he almost bumped into Merle.

"What the hell are you doing here Merle?"

Merle didn't have time to think.

"The same as ya asshole, but I was here first. So get the fuck out of here!"

Jones shifted his weight and the looked from Beth to Merle and back. Then he cursed and turned to leave.

When Merle was sure the door was closed, he went to Beth again. Her face was a mask of terror and she was instinctively shaking her head, holding her hands against Merle in a pathetic attempt of defense.

He grabbed her shirt and tore it in one swift movement. Beth yelped and desperately tried to cover herself.

"Scream," Merle ordered the girl. Beth started sobbing quietly, curling into a ball.

"Scream, goddamnit or I will help ya!" he hissed at her angrily before realizing that Beth didn't see the difference between him and Jones.

"For fuck's sake, I ain't gonna hurt ya, but these guys are still waitin' behind the door!"

It seemed that Beth understood and she uncovered her face.

"Why?"

"Yer old man was the only one who didn't treat me as a piece of shit in that rat hole. Dixon always pay off his debts," Merle shrugged, "and now scream!"

When Merle emerged from the door, Jones and one other man he didn't know were still there.

Merle grabbed the man by his shirt and pinned him against the wall, wincing when his injured hand shot a bolt of pain right down his spine.

"I'm coming for more. If any of you fuckers lay a finger on her, I'll kill ya, do ya understand me?"

It didn't take Merle long to find out, which cell they were keeping Carol in. He was shaking with anger when he entered the room.

he was little bit taken aback, when he saw her. It was no doubt who had taken the harshest beating. She tried to stand up when she saw him but her legs were so shaky that she had to give up.

She looked up to him, almost peaceful expression in her face. She knew he was coming to kill her, to finish what he'd started on the run, which seemed so long ago now. She was suddenly not afraid at all, almost welcoming death with open arms. She had fought too hard and for too long and she was tired now. And it even felt right to die by Dixon's hand as she was the one to cause his brother's death.

Merle almost ran to her, grabbing her by shoulders.

"You bitch! He would be alive if ya leave him be. He would be OK, but he is a fuckin' rotten corpse now because all of ya fuckin' idiots!"

Merle yelled into her face, he pulled her up roughly, trying to shake the life out of her tiny form.

Carol didn't move, didn't moan, she was just looking at him, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Then it hit him. She mourned him. She mourned Daryl more than he would ever thought was possible. He saw it in her silent invitation, in her reconciled waiting for him to kill her so she could escape all this and be with him.

Merle let out a horrible groan, like a wounded animal and smashed her against the wall. She collapsed but didn't try to defend herself, she was just waiting.

Merle felt the tears stinging in the back of his eyes; he shook his head furiously and ran out of the door, leaving confused and hurt Carol behind.

OK, I know you were all waiting for a reunion and I promise it's coming soon!:-)