Daryl is going to do whatever it takes to rescue Carol. No fluff in this one. I like to write action scenes and there is a lot of action in this one. It is all Daryl being Daryl.

Chameleon

Daryl and Abe had walked toward the college trying to stay out of sight. Daryl was relieved that Carol was not walking out in the open. He could feel danger all around him and he tried to think of where Jesse would be. Daryl remembered that Jesse loved sports and he motioned Abe toward the soccer field. There was a single building there that probably housed the restrooms and they started toward the building. Jesse opened the door to them before they got there and they hurried inside.

The room must have been an equipment room back in the day and there were shelves filled with sporting equipment. Jesse said, "The bad guys are in the town and I think they'll be here soon. We need to pull our people back now. I have made contact with the mountain guys and they are going back to where we were last night. They are taking Beth, Tara, Elijah, and Eugene with them. We just need to get your group to move back and we'll be fine. We'll wait until it starts getting dark and we'll hoof it to the vehicles."

Daryl said, "We can't wait until dark. Carol and the others are sitting there waiting for us."

Jesse shook his head, "We head out right now and we might draw the Nazis to their hiding place. We wait for thirty minutes and you and Abe can take off but move slow. Watch your back. We'll wait for you at on the highway you came in on about ten miles out. We'll find a place to stay for the night."

It was still daylight outside when Daryl and Abe slipped out. They took a different way back but it wasn't long before they were back at the building. It looked empty, but Michonne and Morgan were waiting for them in the entryway.

Morgan said, "Four soldiers came by and searched this building. Carol and Rick sent the others upstairs and we took them out on the roof. For some reason, Carol and Rick didn't come upstairs and they were taken somewhere in a Humvee."

Daryl turned away and tried to process what he had been told. Carol and Rick had been taken somewhere with soldiers. Carol wasn't here. She was somewhere in danger and he had failed her again. He walked further away from the others because he needed space from them. He had to find her.

Abe asked, "Where are the others?" He looked for his pack that he had left here and suddenly he knew why Carol and Rick had gotten caught. He had left it here because it was so heavy and he should have taken it with him.

Michonne said, "We took them to the woods and Carl will see that they get back to the cars. They are going to the fall back place and wait for us. Morgan and I are going to find Carol and Rick tonight."

Daryl turned back around. "No, I am going after them. Just me. It's too dangerous for you and Morgan. These fuckers will take one look at you too and know that you are too dangerous to let live. Carol will kill me if I let you get hurt. This place is too open and I need for you to go back toward the cars. Meet me in the woods tomorrow morning at dawn. I am going to find as much information as I can."

Morgan said, "We aren't going to go to the woods. We are going to find out where they are staying, how many they have here, and figure out the best way to take them down. You look for Carol and Rick. That's your job. Michonne and I know the risks. You aren't in charge of us and your only priority will be to get Carol and Rick back."

Morgan's voice was sure and strong. Daryl looked at him and remembered seeing him for the first time at Terminus. Morgan had blown up a fuel dump that distracted the guards long enough for Carol to release them. Daryl nodded but he looked at Michonne. She shook her head, "I am going too. Somebody has to keep the Black Knight safe. I spent my senior year of college in Europe. Saw about a million churches, museums, and monuments. I also went to Auschwitz. The others are a blur to me now but I remember every detail about Auschwitz. Had dreams about it for years. I know why now; it was to let me know what has to be done here. You go get Carol and Rick, but Morgan and I are going." She picked up her pack, "We will meet you at daybreak. You may need us to get them out."

Abraham broke in, "I'll go with you, Daryl".

Daryl shook his head, "Go find Jesse and tell him to meet us in the woods at dawn."

Abe wanted to go with them but he knew that Jesse needed to know what they were doing. He left first moving through the brush toward the pines. There wasn't any sign of the enemy around but he did meet a few walkers.

Daryl led the way in a path that skirted the college. There were Humvees parked around a couple of buildings. This looked to be the outer edge of their army. Most of the men would be in the town.

"They are looking for survivors to live on the farms. Armies run on their stomachs, so they want the survivors to grow food to keep the army fed." Morgan was trying to think where they would put survivors. "The town has a courthouse and there would be a jail around there or some sort of holding facility. They'll question Carol and Rick and determine if they are going to cooperate. Carol is too smart not to know that. Rick will have play along with it."

A walker lurched toward them and Morgan took it down. Michonne took the next one, and Daryl the one after that. There was less than a mile between the town and the college and they traveled quickly. Michonne did not slow them down. They parted ways on the outskirts of town. Daryl was moving toward the courthouse and Morgan and Michonne were going toward the schools and hospitals.

Daryl had hunted since he was a boy. He knew that part of a good hunter was blending in with your surroundings. Camouflage was the new black for hunters. You didn't want to be noticed when you hunted and now he looked at his clothes. He saw soldiers moving through the streets confidently in relatively clean fatigues and wearing black boots. He didn't see any with any facial hair except for a moustache. Carol had just cut his hair and it was short enough to pass for a military cut.

Daryl moved behind a dumpster and waited until a lone soldier about his size sauntered past. Daryl grabbed him by the throat and stuck a knife into his brain stem. The man convulsed and then died. Daryl dressed himself in the dead man's clothes and boots and threw the man into the dumpster which already smelled like the dead. Daryl took a detour to a house just off the main street of the town. The house was empty and he went into the bathroom and washed himself and shaved his face. The man who look back at him looked like a weary soldier. He would have to leave his crossbow because he couldn't see how that wouldn't get attention. The soldier had a rifle and Daryl hid the rest of his weapons inside of his new uniform.

Daryl hid his crossbow in some thick bushes close to the courthouse. He avoided the main street and went to a rooftop of an office building and watched the action. Soldiers were clearing out buildings and dragging the dead walkers they found to a parking lot beside the courthouse. They were setting up a perimeter around the schools and the main part of town to keep the walkers from wandering he guessed.

The courthouse was lit up and there were street lights on around the facility. Homeland Security had spent millions ensuring that governmental agencies could function during power failures. The Nazis had probably activated the big generators to restore power. There was a small jail located beside of the courthouse. Carol and Rick might be there and Daryl made his way down to the street. He kept to the shadows but he crossed the street casually and no one seemed to take notice of him. He looked like one of them now.

Daryl slipped into the shadows and doubled back to check out the jail. It had electricity and he could see that it must be a holding facility. The windows were too high to see from the ground and he climbed a tree to see in. A soldier sat inside in front of a desk and he moved to another tree to see into cells. There were six small cells in the area behind the desk. The cells had Black men and women in each cell. One cell had a Black woman and a small child.

Daryl closed his eyes. He needed to ignore this situation. The Nazis weren't going to send Carol and Rick here. They wouldn't mix races. Anything he could do for these people would put the Nazis on alert. Make getting to Carol and Rick harder. Maybe he could come back later and help these people. These people who were the same race as Alia. They were someone's Alia and he groaned and prayed that God would help him be an instrument of His will. Daryl slid down the tree and straightened up his clothes. He walked casually and confidently inside the jail and stood before the guard's desk. "I am here to relieve you."

The guard said, "They told me I would be here until morning." He didn't look too unhappy about being relieved though.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders. "Just got my orders to take over until morning. They want you to go over to where they are keeping the white survivors. I hope it's better than this dump."

The guard stood up and handed Daryl the keys. "Setup here is simple. This key goes to the door to the back and these others open individual cells. I checked on them a bit ago. They were told that they are getting released tomorrow to go to a safe zone. They'll get on the truck tomorrow easy enough. Their safe zone will be about a mile out of town. The ditch is dug already. So just stay out here and you'll be fine."

Daryl grumbled, "I wish I was going over to the White survivor's holding place but they sent me to this shithole. Where is it? Gotta be better than this. You lucky asshole."

The guard grinned at Daryl's dismay. "They only found two white survivors. A man and a woman. They are being kept in this shithole's only motel. The General is staying there and all the brass. Gravy train for me, shit detail for you."

Daryl nodded, "Just my damn luck." He took the keys and put them in his pocket. The guard began to move toward the door and Daryl repeated his hold around the throat and the stab through the brain stem. He dragged him toward his chair and propped him up. He looked like he was sitting there waiting until morning. Daryl opened the door to the back and walked in and shut the door behind him.

There were cries and muffled screams from the people in the cells as he dragged the guard off to the side. Daryl growled at them, "Shut the fuck up. I am going to let you out but I need for you to be quiet. Is there another way out of here".

"Well, we have been praying for an angel of deliverance but I never thought that an angel would look and talk like you," The speaker was a tall strong Black man in his thirties.

Daryl laughed, "I ain't no angel and I ain't no Nazi either. I am going to let you out but if you go out on that street you'll be back in here in about five minutes."

"I am Gabriel Foster and we can go out the back door. Just on the other side of that last cell is a hallway. Maybe you are an angel unawares, Stranger things have happened."

Daryl went down the dark hallway and found a door heavily bolted from the inside. It did open to a darkened parking lot. Still would be tricky. He went back to the cells. "Gonna open your door first, Gabriel. You will have to get your people out a few at a time." Daryl gave him the weapons he had taken off of the guard and a knife and let Gabriel out. "Get out of here. There ain't no safe zone waiting for you, just a ditch somewhere. They are putting guards on the streets getting out of here but if you can get out. Head west toward the pine woods past the college and stay out of sight. There will be a light colored Black man with blue eyes. You can trust him. There is a big white man with reddish hair and he's a good guy too. I have to go now." Daryl turned to go, "Got any prayers to spare, Gabriel?"

Gabriel looked up from unlocking the woman and the child, "I have prayers to spare, Angel". He put his arms around the woman and picked up the little boy.

Daryl said, "Say some that I find my wife and friend tonight and bring them home safe. My friend too. I told you I ain't no angel. Where is the motel at?"

Gabriel said, "It is two blocks down on this street. I am going to go down this alleyway for three blocks. There is a big metal frame building and I am going to take it out of here. Just go straight through that building and there is door on the other side that opens up to the river. I can follow the river up past the college and then cross over. I'll leave that door unlocked for you, Angel".

Daryl nodded, "Be careful out there. I'll go out the front and lock the front door." He turned to go and then turned around, "Your name should be Moses, I guess. Lead your people out of here as soon as your can. Got two friends out there called Morgan and Michonne. She has dreadlocks, can't miss her. They'll help you too."

Daryl opened the front and saw that guard was still keeping watch, "Goodnight, fucker. Hope you like the warm reception you are getting now". Daryl went out on the street. It was quieter now. Fewer people on the street but he ducked down the next alley moving toward the motel. There would be guards there but they would not be expecting an angel of death to visit them tonight.

AN

I can see Daryl repeating Carol's knife move to put down a walker. It would kill and ensure that they didn't turn.

I don't think anyone would leave Auschwitz and not remember it.

Daryl's not your typical angel for sure.

Homeland Security gave money for our local government to buy large generators for the courthouse and the health clinic.

Review please.