Mara wasn't born to be a warrior. Her whole life she had been heading towards something different. It wasn't her destiny to be standing in the field of a Georgia prison fighting for her life. At least, so she had thought.
At some point it had started to rain. The Georgia sky opened up and the night was alive with that sharp sweet smell of light rain and the scent of decay. The ground turned to mud under so many trampling feet.
Her clothes stuck to her body and she could feel the dirt clinging to her calves. She didn't mind the dirt. It was better than the other things that stuck to her body now. Her hair was plastered to her face, held in place by water, sweat and blood.
The only saving grace was that most of the blood didn't belong to her. There was such a cacophony of sounds that it had almost blurred into the background. The only thing that Mara could really hear was the sound of her own laboured breath echoing in her ear. Her muscles were starting to burn. She hadn't fought this long or hard ever.
Mara ignored her aching, protesting body and spun her sword to kill again and again. She was dimly aware of Christine on her right and Merle on her left. Christine fought almost silently. Her streamline movements were punctuated only by a few grunts, which were muffled by her helmet anyway.
Merle was the opposite. He goaded his enemies even though they couldn't comprehend. He whooped and laughed like a mad man. Merle was like a berserker, cut off from anything but the battle. Mara was surprised he hadn't struck down anyone living yet.
There were so many walking corpses. She had truly underestimated how many would come spilling out of the bus like vermin. They ebbed and flowed around her like a tide. Any quarter they gave was short lived and like a wave, they crashed back around her.
In one of those brief instances of respite she caught a glimpse of Michonne. She smiled like some grim goddess of death before vanishing from Mara's sight.
She didn't know who else was out on the field. Her world had narrowed to herself and the two people who fought shoulder to shoulder with her.
Now that the gun shots had stopped they were free to focus completely on the spooks. She didn't know why it had stopped but she was grateful. Not having their attentions divided helped but the situation hadn't improved that much.
It was too dark to see clearly. She could barely think beyond taking down her next assailant, let alone plan some kind of organised strike.
The bodies were piling up at her feet. Detached limbs twitched in the last throes of death.
A surge of the dead separated Mara from Christine. She shouted her name but Christine didn't look over her shoulder. She couldn't risk it. And Mara was stupid for shouting something that could have distracted her.
Merle's heavy hand on her shoulder forced her to duck. Swinging over her body, where her head had just been, he impaled an open mouthed walker with his prosthetic knife. Her hand gun that she had lent him was tucked into the waist band of his pants.
Mara curved around Merle's body, standing upright to plant a booted foot, hard in the stomach of an impending walker.
"Stay close, Darlin'," Merle instructed gruffly. He grunted as he pulled the knife from the walker's skull.
Mara couldn't muster any energy to be indignant. She was responsible for just as many bodies on the ground as he was but Merle was just hardwired to think females were the weaker sex.
The spook she had kicked came reeling back, mouth open and snarling. Mara could see its rotten teeth before Mara used her sword to cut the top of its head off. It unexpectedly slumped forward and Mara was forced to quickly side step to avoid having its weight crash into her.
Her foot landed on the arm of a felled creature. The lack of solid flesh in the body meant that her foot twisted awkwardly. Mara fell to her knees, just managing to avoid falling on her face. Shooting pain in her leg told her that if her ankle wasn't broken, it was severely sprained.
Mara struggled to stand. Another walker crashed into her, its jaws locking around her forearm, trying to taste her flesh but not understanding that her jacket kept it away. Her sword had slipped from her fingers as she was driven to the ground again. She was vaguely aware that someone was shouting her name. Her eyes locked on Merle. He had seen her fall and was fighting his way toward her but more and more obstacles lunged between them.
Mara fumbled for the smaller knife on her belt. The fervour with which the walker worked on her arm vibrated all her joints. She was worried that her arm might even be jerked from its socket.
With a gasp, she forced herself into a sitting position. She drove the knife into the spooks head and shoved hard. The creature died and crumbled to the side. Her legs were caught under the creature and she tried to pull them out from underneath.
The pain that came from moving her ankle made her scream. Two hands grabbed her shoulder pushing her down. Mara struggled but more decaying bodies swamped her. They pawed at her, trying to access the blood and meat kept shielded by her jacket. It was only a matter of time before sheer numbers succeeded, or they went for her face.
Mara looked up into the dead eyes of one walker. She got the sense that she was looking at her end. A terror she had never felt before flooded through her body and she screamed at the same time she heard someone shouting her name. She knew somehow it was Daryl and she had time to wish she could see his face once more before she squeezed her eyes shut and prayed.
...
With Nathan and Elias taking care of the men, Daryl surged into the field of groaning corpses. Andrea was right behind her, a fierce gleam in her eyes.
Rick and Maggie followed them. Rick paused and closed the gate behind them so that, whatever happened, they could contain the situation. The last thing they wanted was the prison to be over run. There were still people inside, family that could survive if they fell.
For a while there had been steady shots from the guard tower but they had stopped. It was possible that Yussuf and Glenn didn't want to risk hitting any of their people in the dark. It was also possible that their ammunition had run out.
Daryl didn't have time to think about it as he saw walkers crawl into the bus. His heart thudded painfully in his chest as he watched. There was the splintering of glass and then he saw a flash of brown hair as Mara pulled herself out of the broken window. Christine followed but he couldn't keep watching.
Andrea shouting his name redirected his attention. There were walkers coming at them now. He pulled his knife out of its sheath and lunged at the first walker rather than waiting for them to reach him. He was consumed by a rage and hatred.
"We need to block the front gate," Rick shouted. He was right. With the gates knocked down and all the noise, they would just have to keep fighting every walker that came out of the woods.
Daryl nodded to show that he understood. He wanted to make his way towards Mara but if they didn't stop the flow of walkers they would be no help to each other.
Two walkers ambled towards him and Daryl switched his knife from palm to palm, his whole body alive with blood lust. There was a whistling sound past his ear and one of the walker's skull exploded as a powerful arrow soared through the air.
Daryl spared a glance over his shoulder and saw that Yussuf had come out of the guard tower with his bow.
In a few seconds he was level with Daryl. Yussuf flashed a smile at the other man that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"I gotta get me one of those," Daryl commented.
Yussuf shrugged. "I couldn't let you have all the fun."
Yussuf started picking off walkers with his bow and Daryl saw Glenn join Maggie. Andrea was close by, killing walkers with startling precision.
There was the turn over of engines and Daryl watched as most of the men got in their cars and left. There was still one car that had been left and Daryl could see it was moving towards the prison.
He drew his gun and levelled it at the car but at the last minute turned it skyward. He recognised the two figures driving. Nathan and Elias.
They brought the car to a screeching halt outside the prison, effectively blocking the entrance from more walkers. They got out of the car. Nathan looked unhurt but Elias had a nasty gash on his forehead that Daryl could see from a distance. The big man had to use the car to steady himself. Nathan was already fighting the walkers that were milling around the outside, trying to get in.
The walkers enveloped them suddenly, forcing Daryl to throw himself into the fight again. Rick, Glenn and Maggie had already made headway toward the broken gate. Yussuf started to follow them, using his bow to clear a bit of a path for them. The three skirted the outside and managed to miss the worst of it.
Rick and Glenn hastened to grab the crumbled gate that had been flung off its hinges by the bus. It wasn't perfect but it would have to serve. Elias and Nathan scrambled over the car. Elias slumped to the ground, unable to keep his feet under him any longer. Maggie stood over him, protecting him from any walkers. The other three men, started to lift the gate, using wire and rope that was nearby to bind it to the car and keep in upright.
Most of the walkers had followed Mara, Merle, Christine and Michonne. The sheer numbers had pushed them away from the gate and further around the prison.
Andrea was struggling with two walkers that managed to pin her arms to her side. Daryl intervened, grabbing one of the walkers by the back of their decaying dress. It was a petite girl and that made it easier for Daryl to fling it away from Andrea and to the ground. He felt no remorse or guilt as he kicked what had once been a teenage girl in the gut. He knew it wouldn't feel pain but it stopped it from getting to its feet.
He drove the knife down hard, right between her eyes.
Andrea neatly disposed of the other walker that had been trying to maul her. Her hair had slipped free of its pony tail was floating around her face. She was dishevelled but unhurt and she looked as mad as Daryl felt.
He couldn't imagine what it must be like to know that a person that you cared about was more than likely responsible for this attack. He would feel more sympathy if the woman he loved wasn't fighting for her life.
Daryl's head jerked up as he heard Merle shout Mara's name. Daryl looked in their direction but he couldn't see clearly through the swirl of bodies.
Then he heard Mara scream and immediately started running in her direction. Her scream had been laced with pain. He caught glimpses of her sprawled on the ground, one hand clutching her ankle.
Then the sight of her was blocked by walkers throwing themselves on her body like rabid animals.
Her name was torn from his lips as he ran towards her. Panic surged through his body because he couldn't see her anymore. All he could hear was her screaming.
Daryl wasn't going to get there in time. Mara was going to die.
AN: A short chapter, I know. Action always takes it out of me and I decided that was a nice little cliff hanger to leave you all with.