DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of The Walking Dead. This is for entertainment purposes only.
A/N: The next chapter is a real work in progress… For some reason I am having a hell of a time getting it started. But once I get there… Whew. The rest should be a breeze. And since I have no way of reaching you: thank you so much, Trey! Words cannot express my gratitude! xoxo
Last Man Standing.
Sasha turned to Tyreese, her voice a mere whisper, "Should we be staying with these people?"
"Maybe that guy is a threat. We don't know what happened out there," Tyreese shrugged, his voice level matching his sister's.
Leah could still hear everything they said even though they were trying to speak to each other without her knowledge. They apparently didn't trust her at her word, though it was technically a lie. They didn't need to know that Daryl wasn't her biological father.
"Does it matter? It's not any of our business," Allen spoke up from his side of the fire, obviously able to hear what the siblings were discussing as well. "This group could be what we've been looking for—food, shelter, protection. I don't want to risk losing it, that's for damn sure."
"I don't want to get mixed up with the wrong crowd," Sasha stood her ground, talking back to Allen.
"I have a family to take care of and I'm gonna do what I feel is best for us so we can survive." Allen pulled his wife closer to him and kissed her head all the while shooting a pretty nasty glare in Tyreese's direction.
Leah turned back to see Daryl. The three guys had let up a little while back on the questioning as they were only hovering around him now. Daryl was still lying on the ground defenseless though.
"That man really is your dad?" Tyreese's voice snapped Leah's attention back to them. She only provided him with a nod in return. He glanced around at their surroundings, seeming to take in how many guys there were and what their angle was. Then he turned back to Leah, "We'll get you out of here. You don't need to explain anything else but if that man is truly your father, then the least we could do is help get you two out of here and back on your way."
Leah could only manage to blink a few times trying to take in Tyreese's words. They were going to help?
"No way—you can't ruin this!" Allen snapped. Sasha shushed him, signaling for him to lower his voice. "You're going to make it where we won't get to go back with them. Or worse, killed."
Tyreese shook his head, "You're looking out for your family and I'm looking out for this girl's family. Think about it, Allen."
"I'm not a part of this," Allen muttered.
Leah watched as Tyreese got back on his feet and stretched a bit. He reached into his back pocket and pulled what appeared to be a pocket knife from it. The tiniest little smirk crossed his face as he bent down and held it out to Leah, "Take it. I'll distract these guys and you go get your dad out of here, alright?"
Leah slowly reached out and grabbed the weapon from him, quickly hiding it in her back pocket as she nodded in understanding. "Thank you." She felt like some of her faith had been restored in humanity with Tyreese and Sasha. She still had her work cut out for her though.
Sasha got to her feet now and joined Tyreese's side as they walked a little ways away from the fire. Tyreese called out to Crowley and the others. "I have a few questions, if you don't mind chatting."
Leah couldn't believe how gullible these guys were. The whole lot of them dispersed and left Daryl's side, muttering under their breath. They probably assumed Daryl wasn't getting out of his predicament but that's where they were wrong. Leah couldn't help but smile as she carefully maneuvered her way over to him, unseen by the men. She noticed Sasha placed her hand on one of their arms to turn him more towards them, a fake smile playing on her lips.
"Leah—What're you doing?" Daryl hissed as Leah moved for his ankles.
"Getting us out of here." Leah flashed the small pocket knife for him to see before she cut the tape from his ankles. It took a moment before she was able to get it to slice through the duct tape, working it back and forth until it ripped apart. She tore the tape off of his pant legs and threw it onto the ground. She could hear Tyreese and Sasha trying to keep them busy as Crowley gloated about how great this 'Woodbury' place was, how secure it was to keep out the biters, that they had electricity, water, food, and houses. It sounded like a dream come true and Leah wondered how much of it was true.
"Where'd you manage to get the knife?" Daryl asked as Leah moved for his wrists.
"Tyreese. He's trying to help us." Leah was able to knick the duct tape before she felt a hand tangle in her hair, ripping her backwards and back on her feet to the point where she almost lost her balance. She slightly yelped at the pain coursing across her scalp as she realized once again that Crowley had a hold of her by her hair.
Leah acted fast and the first thing she could even think to do was use the pocket knife. She jammed the short blade back and ended up connecting with Crowley's side, impaling him. He let out a string of curses as he released her and took a step back. Before she knew it, Daryl had rolled over and got to his feet, kicking Crowley where the blade protruded from his side and knocked him flat on his ass, gasping in pain.
"Your gun—go!" Daryl nodded his head towards where the men had placed the weapons. His crossbow sat just beside the Glock that they apparently thought nothing of, leaving it in the open like that. But that was their own stupid mistake and for once, Daryl and Leah's lucky day.
Leah had just grabbed the Glock and turned around to face Daryl. He kicked Tim back from trying to attack as Leah lined up her target, biting her lip. She had shot walkers before but humans were totally different. She tried to ignore the voice screaming in the back of her head that told her this was wrong. But it wasn't wrong, it was self-defense. It was kill or be killed. And she needed to do this.
Leah pulled the trigger and slightly gasped as she realized she nailed Tim right in the chest. She could see blood soak the front of his shirt in an instant before he dropped to the ground. But with all of the shock and hustle and bustle, she didn't realize two of the other men closed in on Daryl. She didn't have time to shoot the one as he closed his arm around Daryl's neck from behind, locking him in some sort of chokehold and using him as a shield, facing towards Leah.
"I'd put the gun down if I were you," the man warned, swaying back and forth with Daryl in his grasp.
There was no way that Leah was going to put her gun down, that much she knew. She also wasn't able to line up a shot with the man being that close to Daryl. She wasn't going to risk it—she knew she wasn't that great of a shot.
A gunshot rang out making Leah jump before she realized the second man who was somewhat close to Daryl hit the ground. She wasn't the only one who was clueless though as her eyes, as well as the man and Daryl, searched the nearby area. That's when she noticed that Crowley, Neil, and Tyreese's group seemed to have disappeared.
Daryl managed to swipe his leg behind his captor's and caused him to stumble back. Just moments after that, another shot rang out and dropped that man as well. Daryl backed up towards Leah as they were both on high alert, looking out into the darkness for the mysterious shooter.
"Leah—Daryl—" Skyler came bursting through the trees and darkness first, running straight for Leah. Leah met her half way before they collided, hugging each other as tight as possible. "Thank God!"
Rick and Andrew were next as Daryl finally sighed with relief. "Didn't mean to bust up the little party you had going, but it looked like we got here just in time," Andrew smirked. He walked over to Daryl and cut the tape off of his wrists, handing his knife back to him.
"We had it covered…" Daryl ripped the tape off his wrists and rolled his shoulders. He glanced over at Leah and smiled before he retrieved his crossbow. Leah wasn't sure if he was entirely serious but his smile was contagious as she returned it. "How'd you find us? No offense, but it's a bit dark and none of you can track for shit."
"I convinced them that we had to keep going," Skyler explained. "We kept walking for a bit before we eventually saw the fire off in the distance. We waited for the right moment to attack."
Rick surveyed the area, his eyes scanning over the bodies that were sprawled out across the forest floor. He gave Tim's body a kick before speaking up, "We should head back. The gunfire probably called some attention to us."
"What about the others? We just gonna leave 'em?" Andrew questioned.
Daryl shrugged, "There ain't no way we can catch up to them now."
Before they started to head back, Leah noticed Skyler had approached Daryl now. She watched as Skyler hugged him with her arms around his neck, bringing him closer to her level as she planted a small kiss on his cheek. And even in the dark, Leah could have sworn she saw Daryl blush just ever so slightly.
Daryl led the way back to the motor inn, seeing as Rick and Andrew were only stumbling over each other. They didn't have the sense of direction like Daryl had and within about twenty minutes or so, they had made it back.
Everyone looked relieved as the small gang had come into view and entered the parking lot. It became apparent that no one was able to sleep until they had come back safely.
"What happened? Are you guys okay?" Beth stepped forward, glancing back and forth between the five. Her face was still stricken with panic even though they were all right there in front of her.
"A group of men attacked us and brought us back to their little camp," Leah briefly explained. "But we're okay now."
"They seemed like they were pretty well off." Daryl filled everyone in, "Said something about their so-called town 'Woodbury'. And it's apparently run by some guy that goes by the name 'Governor'. Something about being secure from the biters."
"Crowley said that they have electricity too—and food, water, and shelter. Like real houses," Leah added. "Is that even possible?"
"Well… You know how Maggie and I went to check out the town quite a ways down the road?" Glenn spoke up now, rubbing his arm. "We didn't get too close because it looked like they had guards stationed on the walls, but it sounds like this could be that place?"
"It was heavily barricaded. There was no way we could get any closer to get a look." Maggie crossed her arms.
"What if this is the same place?—it's not that far from us…" Lori placed a hand over her mouth. "What if they attack?"
Rick put his hands up, "There's no need for all of us to get in a panic. We got Daryl and Leah back and we're gonna take this one step at a time. I don't think they'll be too much of a problem for us. We killed three of them but they don't know us or where we came from."
"It wouldn't hurt to keep an eye out though," Daryl stepped forward. "Think about it… This is the only other place around, ain't it? Those guys that got away, they could report back to their 'governor' and they could come after us."
"We're not safe here?" Carol questioned.
Rick shook his head, "I don't think they'd come after us. If they have as nice a town as what you've all been saying, they'd have no reason to."
"We can't leave," Carl butted in. "This place is perfect. I think it's the safest place we're going to find."
"We don't have the gas to travel either," Olivia sighed. "So whether these guys try to plot some sort of revenge or not, we're stuck here."
"Yeah, but we'll see 'em coming," Andrew shrugged. "I say bring 'em on. We'll just pick 'em off one by one all over again."
It took a while for everyone to settle down after the news. It was ultimately decided that they weren't going to leave. They needed this motel. There was nowhere else that they could go. Like Rick had said—these guys sounded like they were well to do. Those men would have no reason to come after them over three lives when they most likely had plenty more in their 'safe' little town. They planned on minding their business just as well as this 'Woodbury' should in return.
Daryl was seated on the edge of one of the beds in the motel room he was claiming with Skyler and Leah. Leah sat down beside him almost immediately, her face blank.
"I just wanted you to know… I'm sorry about what I said. I was just… upset. But I didn't mean it—what I said to you," Leah confessed. She wrapped her arm around his and leaned against him.
"Don't worry about it," Daryl glanced down at her as she was hugging his arm. "Are you okay? Those guys didn't do anything to you, did they?"
Leah shook her head, "Just that Crowley guy. He pulled my hair twice. But I got my revenge."
Daryl smirked, "Yeah, I guess so. You stabbed him and shot that Asian. Nice shot too."
"Thanks?" Leah let go of his arm now and looked back at him. "I feel bad though. I didn't mean to kill him… I wasn't even going to shoot at first. But he was trying to attack you—"
"Don't worry about it," Daryl repeated himself, giving her a small smile. He truly wished she didn't have to attack anyone but the way he saw it, she was able to defend herself. If worse came to worse, maybe she wouldn't need his help if another situation similar to that arose. "Not worried about whether you know right from wrong. You do."
"Yeah…" Leah nodded.
"So this Tyreese guy," Daryl started. "I feel like we owe him something in return… He just randomly offered to help?"
"His sister Sasha had me join them and I told them Crowley was lying. Crowley tried to make it sound like you were attacking me and that they came to the rescue just in time. Tyreese wanted to know who you were and I told him that you were my dad..." Leah turned to look at Daryl. "To me, you are."
Daryl wasn't sure what sort of feeling had washed over him in that moment but he froze up. Leah really thought of him like that?—and she meant it? He could feel his mouth twitch before he managed a smirk, "Well I ain't exactly winning any 'Father of the Year' awards."
Leah smiled and threw her arms around him, squeezing him tight. "I think you win the 'Kickass Father of the Year' award."