Good thing the Greene sisters didn't really understand the spirit of pranks and returned all the clothes they had hidden, washed and cleaned as best they could.
The series of jokes eventually petered out. The oppressive threat of the Governor had worked its way back into their psyches and they were confused and grateful that he hadn't struck again.
They had cleared out more space in the prison and secured it. The holes of the prison had slowly been fortified, not with beauty or precision but whatever supplies they could find. It would hold spooks out though.
Mara and Michonne came in to the common area one evening, finished their turn on patrol. Food was already being served out and Carol passed them both a plate. Michonne sat down and started eating silently. She had said maybe two sentences the whole time they were on patrol. And Mara had though Daryl was terse.
Mara almost dropped her plate when she spotted the object of her thoughts cradling and cooing to a baby. Daryl had a bottle and was feeding Judith. Mara slid in to a seat on the opposite side of the table next to Elias.
Mara was staring at Daryl like he had grown an extra head. Elias seemed unconcerned with this development, his priority was food.
"Yer hungry, sweetheart?" Daryl had the softest expression on his face that Mara had seen yet. He seemed wholly unaware of anyone looking at the spectacle. Mara realised that nobody really was. The survivors all acted like this was nothing out of the ordinary and Mara guessed Daryl had been on baby duty a few times before this.
The sight was making Mara feel things. Horrible things - like affection for Daryl. She prayed it was just maternal instincts kicking in.
"What you staring at?" Daryl rough voice startled her. She hadn't been aware she had been staring. She just hoped her expression hadn't been too mushy.
"Not actually sure."
Daryl scowled and passed Judith off to Beth.
"You know I've never seen Beth on patrol or guard duty. Is she on permanent mummy duty?" Mara asked, using her food as an excuse to not look at Daryl.
Daryl didn't look particularly interested in having a chat with Mara but Rick said he wanted to see them when they'd finished eating so Mara figured he was stuck for the moment.
"I don't know. Suppose she's too young."
Mara looked doubtful. "She's not that much younger than me."
Daryl fixed her with a look. "How old are you?"
"Twenty," Mara answered.
"Shit, you ain't even old enough to drink yet." Daryl was taken aback. How old was she supposed to be in his head?
"Not in America maybe."
"I got an update on yer current location," Daryl drawled.
"Is this some strange new hillbilly code of ethics, this objection to underage drinking? How old are you anyway?"
"Older," he said dryly.
Mara couldn't really tell how old Daryl was. He always looked exhausted and was nearly constantly covered in a layer of dirt. She would have said around thirty.
"I'm twenty five," Elias randomly contributed. Mara had almost forgotten Elias was at the table. Whenever he was around, Daryl absorbed all of her attention. Rick walked over and took the final spare seat.
"Daryl, Mara, I want you two to go out in the forest and see if you can see any evidence of the Governor and his men. Michonne and Christine are going to head out in the opposite direction."
"The peace makin' you squirrelly?" Daryl asked.
"I don't trust it. Makes me think he's got something big planned."
"Maybe we've deterred him," Elias suggested.
"As in you five soldiers?" Daryl asked.
"There's no way to be sure how many of us there are if you think about it. We rotate watches, we wear all black. From a distance we'd be hard to tell apart, with our helmets on it'd be impossible. As far as the governor knows you've got an unknown amount of people with military grade weapons."
The others considered what Elias had said.
"That's actually a good point." Rick was contemplative.
"You always were wicked smart Elias," Mara praised him with a smile.
"Fine. Tomorrow me and Mara will take an excursion." Daryl said. "See if he's been sniffin' round." He pushed himself away from the table, done with the conversation.
"It's a date," Mara called after him. He just growled and stalked off.
The next day was another stifling hot Georgia summer day. The forest was alive with crickets and birds.
It didn't deter from Daryl's ability to track. His alert eyes drifted over the ground, perplexed.
"These are human tracks," he murmured, sensing Mara just over his shoulder.
"Fresh?"
"Fresh enough. There was rain two nights back. Woulda washed these away if they were any older." Daryl stayed crouched and followed them.
Mara hung back to give him space and also to keep an eye on the surroundings. She didn't want any spooks sneaking up while Daryl was in his wild man zone.
Daryl's head snapped into the air like a hunting dog. He'd heard something. He scrambled behind a tree and Mara followed his lead. With her back against the rough bark Mara could see Daryl concealed behind his own tree.
'Stay there,' he mouthed. She could hear the voices that only Daryl's supersonic bat hearing had picked up before.
She couldn't tell how many there were and looked to Daryl again. He silently held up three fingers. Three men were out there and Mara knew they had to be the Governor's men.
"You think we're gonna find them out here?" one of the voices sounded disgruntled.
"If they're stupid enough."
Mara rested her head back against the tree. Turns out, they were stupid enough. The footsteps stopped and for a while there were no sounds.
"I don't see 'em."
"Let's just head back to Woodbury. I feel like a beer and we've took down enough biters today."
There was the shuffle of leaves and the sound of retreating steps. Then there was nothing but silence. Mara went to take a step out from behind the tree but Daryl's expression kept her frozen.
They hid behind the trees for ten minutes. Daryl listening and Mara watching Daryl's body language.
Daryl nodded curtly and stepped out. There was a whistling through the air then a bullet exploded through the top of Daryl's thigh. The men were on him in an instant. They'd been bluffing; they'd known someone was out there.
Daryl raised his crossbow to take a shot but the pain forced his leg to buckle and the shot went wide. The crack of the bullet was still bouncing off the trees and Mara knew it was only a matter of time before spooks were crawling all over this area.
The Hispanic thug kicked the crossbow out of Daryl's hand and cracked a fist into his jaw.
"Where's Merle?"
At first Mara thought they asked where the girl was. She was right there frozen by the violence. But they repeated the question, complimented with a kick to the stomach that sent Daryl sprawling.
Daryl spat at their feet. "Ain't seen him, figured he was back with you dumbasses!"
Another harsh kick made Daryl cry out and spurred Mara into action. She felt an anger that shoved away all the fear. She couldn't confront them directly. They were armed and her chances weren't good of taking them all out in a fire fight before they killed her and Daryl.
The thugs were laying into Daryl, who was doing his best to block their blows. He even managed to get to his knees before a brutal hit to the head sent him onto his back.
The sounds of the scuffle had allowed Mara to creep up behind them. They were sloppy. Not even keeping an eye out for spooks. Striking like a snake Mara grabbed the forehead of one of the men and she pulled him tight to her body, drawing her sword across his throat. She had no time to think as hot blood gushed out of the gaping wound and on to her hand.
The element of surprise was lost as the second man tried to turn his gun to her but she was too close for a good shot. With a hard shove to a nerve point in the shoulder, the gun slipped out of the guy's hand.
The Hispanic one managed to rake his knife down her arm while still keeping his gun trained on Daryl who was groping in the leaves for his crossbow. It was typical male logic to view the man as the real threat and not the woman. The jacket yielded under the sharpness of the knife and left an angry, bloody cut down her bicep. Mara used her free hand to slap him hard across the ear. As he stumbled back from the disorientating pain she kicked him hard in the stomach.
She spun around just in time to catch the second man swinging his knife at her. But Mara was faster and she slammed her sword into the point between his eyes. There was more resistance than a spook skull, whose heads split like rotting fruit.
Mara had her sword up and resting in the hollow of the final man's throat before he could attack either her or Daryl again.
"This is my redneck. Get your own," Mara said evenly. Her chest heaved as adrenalin pounded through her veins but her voice was steady.
The man was cautious as his eyes slid up the length of Mara's bloody sword.
"Give me your gun."
The man handed it over with only a second of hesitation.
"I'll let you keep your knife because I want you to pass a message along to your boss and you can't do that if you get eaten. Tell him to back the fuck off!"
"Who are you?"
"We're here to keep the peace," Mara answered.
"We didn't ask for no peace keepin'!"
Mara slid her sword up his throat, just lightly brushing the skin until she reached his chin and tilted it up.
"Then consider it an invasion. Now fuck off."
He took a tentative step back from the end of the blade and when Mara didn't lunge after him he took off running. He knew what she did; that this clearing was going to become infested with spooks soon. She could already hear their throaty gurgles closing in.
As soon as the henchman was out of sight, Mara ran to Daryl, falling to her knees next to him. She panicked when she saw his eyes were closed. Mara dropped the gun and sword, using one hand to check his pulse and the other to shake him. She left two bloody finger prints on his throat.
His pulse was steady and he opened two bleary eyes at her. One of his pupils was noticeably larger than the other.
"Shit! Daryl, I need you to focus. I think you have a concussion."
Mara saw the first spook appear at the tree line. Tongue darting out as if it could taste blood already. There was no time to be gentle. She shoved both her arms under Daryl's from behind and heaved.
He was heavier than he looked. With a groan from each of them they got his feet under him. Mara sheathed her sword and quickly slung the crossbows over her shoulder. Daryl wouldn't forgive her if she left it. Mara ducked under his arm again using her strength to support him.
"We've got to move!" Mara could hear the hysteria seeping in to her voice and it must have reached Daryl too because he started limping.
One of the spooks got too close and Mara shot it. It fell instantly but the gun shot had acted as a beacon to pin point their location.
Mara was running, taking as much of Daryl's weight as she could. She wasn't sure she could make it but an image of him holding the baby flooded her mind and pushed her on. Those people had lost enough. They couldn't afford to lose Daryl too.
Mara almost sobbed with relief when she saw the prison gates but there was no time. She started hollering to get their attention. Fingertips brushed her back and Daryl broke away from her hold and knifed two spooks that Mara hadn't seen get that close.
She didn't know when he had pulled his knife out or how he managed to kill both of them. He sunk to his knees exhausted after exerting himself. The pack was too close to haul him to his feet again and Mara began picking them off with her gun. She had no idea how many bullets were left.
And then she wasn't standing along. Nathan, Carl and Rick were on either side of her, holding them off with their guns. Yussuf and Glenn grabbed Daryl under the arms and started dragging him back towards the safety of the prison.
There was a break in the spooks and the four remaining ran for the prison. As the fence slid shut behind them, encasing them in safety, Mara sank to her knees herself.
Half an hour later she was seated on a chair staring absently at the wall. Hershel said Daryl would be fine and Mara was relieved.
She couldn't move from her seat. Now that she had stopped fighting she felt stunned. It all caught up with her in a rush.
Nathan kneeled in front of her to catch her eyes.
"You alright Mara?"
"Fine, Sarge." She sounded detached and she knew it.
He picked up one of her hands which were still caked in blood. "What did you do, Mara?" Nathan had a wet rag with him and he started to wipe her hands clean while he waited for her answer.
She eventually refocused her attention. "They were going to kill him," she said hoarsely.
Nathan flicked his eyes up to her face. Her hands were still in his.
"I know we weren't supposed to take sides but..." Mara trailed off. How did she articulate that she had chosen Daryl's life over two strangers' lives? That in the end it wasn't even a choice? A single tear ran down her cheek.
"You protected a friend, Mara." Nathan squeezed her hand and walked away to give Mara some privacy.
He pretended not to hear as the first sob escaped her throat.
AN: I had a few Martinez thug moments and then he had to get some character dimensions last episode. How inconvenient! But I will try and rework that in to later chapters. Thanks to everyone stopping by to read and review.
I hope that the action sequence was believable and Mara didn't stray into Mary-Sue territory. Enjoy the episode tonight everybody.
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