Note: Enjoy! (p.s. I'm not good at writing an accent like Daryl's so there isn't much of that, plus it's a bit easier to read when it's not all redneck-y...)
Note2: Since it's been awhile since I posted and I can't post until after the holiday, I'm giving you a long chapter...
I left the woman in the apartment and made my way down the backstairs. The screaming had eased up and there was less gunfire. I nearly made it to the side wall when I heard a gun being cocked behind my head.
"Raise your hands."
I did as I shuffled to face the man. I broke out into a smile at Rick's face. He lowered his gun and reached for me as I stumbled.
"Come on. We need to get you out of here."
"Did you get Glenn out? Is everyone OK? Did Maggie get Max back to the prison?"
"Yes to all. Daryl's laying down cover fire for us. You and Glenn need to be looked over by Hershel."
"Fuck this. I'm not leaving without Dix."
"AJ, you're bleeding all over. Do you think you're in any condition of helping Daryl?"
"Man, I swear you're bipolar or something because not even 2days ago, you were threatening to kill me. Go and take Glenn back. I'll find Dix and we'll get out together."
"I'm not leaving you behind."
I glared at Rick briefly before dropping my shoulders in defeat. I gave him a brief nod and followed behind him as he tugged my hand along. We made it to the wall and Rick offered to push me up.
"I'd rather if you pulled me up so that way your hands aren't near my ass," I replied.
The man understood and started climbing up. He laid over the hood of the bus and leaned down to offer his hand. Rather than grabbing for his hand, I grabbed the gun in his other hand and took off as fast as I could. I ducked into an alley and waited. The gunfire ended and in what silence there was I could make out the distinct scuffle of a fight. I couldn't move from my spot or the lights would catch me and someone could spot me.
"Take him to the ring. The Governor wants to address the town," a voice said as they walked past the alley way.
I chanced sticking my head out and saw the back of Dix's jacket with the wings. Glancing the opposite direction, I didn't see anyone so I crept from the alley and stuck close to the buildings. I watched as they led Dix into a warehouse and through the side windows, I could make out torches. I circled the building and spotted the bleachers and people as they entered the area.
I needed some kind of plan to rescue Dix but without knowing how many people would show up and my limited ammo, I was sorely uninformed. Spotting stairs, I headed up so I could get a better view. Coming out on the second floor, I went to the window and looked down. There were at least 50 people in the crowd, maybe only a handful or two with weapons. Opening the chamber on the Python that I took off Rick, I noticed that there were only 4 bullets left. I had to take out the biggest threats.
The Governor stalked out from the warehouse and I noticed the bandage wrapped around his head. The black woman must have injured him good but I would have preferred if she had killed him. Merle came up beside him, looking a bit uneasy but still the asshole I know.
"What can I say? We haven't had a night like this since the walls went up. The fear we felt then is the same fear we felt tonight. I failed you. I promised to keep you all safe but hell, look at me."
He turned around in a circle so everyone could see him. One of his eyes was bandaged over and I smiled. Too bad whatever got him in the eye didn't go far enough in to pierce his brain.
"I wish I could say that we will be safe but I won't. I can't. I'm afraid for our town. Terrorists want to destroy us, take what we have. What's worse is one of those terrorists is one of our own. Merle, a man I counted on, a man I trusted. And he led them here."
The shit was right since Merle did bring us here but there was no way Dix and the others caught our trail after all that time. The bastard was pitting the town against Merle for a different reason and was probably going to use this as a perfect time to bring Dix out.
The men disarmed Merle and pushed him into the center of the ring. The man kept going on about how he couldn't believe that a man he saved would have betrayed him like that.
"We were able to catch one of the terrorists that Merle brought here. It's Merle's own brother."
Dix was hauled out, his hands tied behind his back. He was shoved towards Merle and the brothers looked at each other. Dix had an eye that was going to darken into a black eye and a large cut on his cheek. The way he was holding himself I recognized from when he had broken ribs years ago.
"You motherfucker. You're so dead," I whispered.
"What should we do with them?"
"Kill'em!" sang up from the townspeople.
A blond woman broke free from a man holding onto her and she approached the bastard. I couldn't hear what they were saying but her body language spoke of closeness. If this was his wife or girlfriend, he was even more of a douche for having me taken back to his apartment. The crowd was still chanting.
"The crowd has spoken. You said your loyalties lie here so prove it. Brother vs. brother. Fight to the death. Prove your loyalties," the Governor said.
"Don't do this," the blond screamed.
Merle looked at Dix as the rope around his wrists was cut away. A powerful left hook from the older brother had my man sprawled on the ground. I took off my shirt, cocked the Python, and put two fingers into my mouth to let out a loud whistle. Naturally everyone stopped to see where the whistle came from and they got an eyeful of my breasts. I used that opportunity to take out two men with weapons before throwing myself down as the others smarted up and opened fire.
I crawled over to a different window and saw that a couple bricks were removed. I used that to spy on the crowd and aimed another shot. People from the crowd were running and I couldn't let the bullet fly in case someone else got in the way. I heard more powerful gunfire take out other people and then I saw Rick.
Pulling on my shirt, I looked out the window and saw the bastard just standing there. Dix was punching Martinez and grabbing back his crossbow. Merle too was attacking a man from his side. Standing fully up in the window again, I took my aim and squeezed the trigger. The bullet flew through the air and struck the intended target. I let out an uncharacteristic giggle before limping my way over to the stairs. I had one bullet left to get down to Dix and the others.
Someone was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs but I recognized that body anywhere.
"Enjoy the show, Dix?"
"What the fuck, AJ? No one sees ya tits but me," he growled, pulling me into his arms.
"Get me out of here and you can see more."
He led me out of the warehouse and over to the others. Rick had thrown a smoke bomb to cover our escape.
"Merle, come on," Dix cried as we headed towards the wall.
Now wasn't the time to smack Dix upside the head so I moved further up to where Rick was. The woman was already there waiting for us. I handed the Python back to its owner and crawled up and over. Lowering myself to the other side hurt worse than when I gave birth to Travis without an epidural. Glenn signalled from where he was and I made my way over.
"Shit, Glenn. What the fuck happened?"
"Merle," he said through the blood coating his face, dripping down onto his shirt.
"He's tagged along but we'll deal with that when we're far away from here."
The other 4 joined us and they led us away from the town. At least Merle was smart enough not to have a weapon in his hands as he followed us. Dix had taken off his jacket and offered it to me but it didn't cover much more than my shirt so it didn't really matter.
"How much further? My leg feels like it's going to fall off," I asked, as I stumbled again.
They took notice at the amount of blood running down my thigh and Dix handed over his bow to Merle. Rick was quick to raise his gun on the older redneck and Glenn took the weapon away.
"No weapons and if you say one thing I don't like, I will leave your ass here."
Merle nodded and Dix picked me up. He was careful of where he held me as not to put pressure on the wound but I didn't care at that moment. I was back with Dix and I showed him my thanks with a kiss.
"Let's get back and we can all have a nice chat."
"I thought you promised me a show," he whispered.
"That you'll get if you do what I want."
"You're pussy whipped, Darlina," Merle chuckled.
"Rick, give me your gun back so I can shoot Merle in the balls like I shot that bastard back there."
Merle's hand went to his crotch and he barely whispered an apology. Rick gave me a look and we continued on to where they stashed the car. It was a tight fit but Dix, Glenn, and I shared the back seat of the SUV. The woman, Michonne as she introduced herself on the walk, took the passenger seat. Since Rick would be driving, Merle had to squeeze into the trunk. Dix tried wrapping another makeshift bandage around my leg but the bumpy roads were not helping.
"Leave it. I'll survive until we reach the prison."
I laid my head on Dix's shoulder and tried not to think about what happened that night or the fact that my lover's perverted brother was sitting behind me. I glanced over at Glenn and could see the tension in his body. I reached over and grabbed his hand. I squeezed it and tried to give him a peaceful smile. He barely returned it with a grimace.
We finally reached the prison and the gates were opened by Maggie and Carol. Rick drove through to the courtyard and parked. He immediately went around and opened the trunk. He didn't point his gun at Merle but held it down at his side.
"Inside. You are going to stay in a cell until we figure out what we're going to do with you."
Dix helped me out and carried me inside. There were new people in the prison but we didn't really pause as Carl unlocked the door to the cells. Dix took me inside and picked the same cell I was in when I first arrived. He then hollered for Hershel.
"AJ!"
A small bundle of blur ran into the cell and wrapped me in his arms. Dix was jumpy and nearly pulled the boy away but my arms held him firm.
"Hey, Max. I'm sorry for not coming back like I said I would."
"I thought I lost you like Pop and Mama. That bad man had a gun on you. Then a nice, pretty woman brought me here."
"I did whatever I could to get back to you and Dix. Now, I need you to go back to Maggie while her father looks at my leg."
"No. I don't want to leave you again," he cried.
I exchanged a look with Hershel and Dix before shushing the boy. I had him curl up beside me against the wall, allowing room for Hershel to look at my leg. As he unwrapped the bloody bandages, I covered Max's eyes and tried to keep from crying out. I grabbed the railing of the bed with my free hand and tightened my grip when the pain grew.
"I can't do anything for the possible damage to your muscle. I'll stitch up the wound and you'll have to keep it easy to let it heal. Until you're up, I can't say if you'll have a limp or not. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You didn't cause the wound. Have you checked over Glenn?"
"I'll take a look after I'm finished with you. He doesn't have an open bleeding wound like you so you come first."
"But if he has broken ribs, they could puncture his lungs. He could…"
"Shush, girl. When he came in, he told me to take care of you first."
I kept quiet as Hershel stitched up the wound and bandaged it. He covered Max and I with a blanket before he left the cell. Dix took the chair he had been sitting in and looked down at us.
"Ya shouldn't have left. Ya wouldn't have been caught."
"No. Maggie might have and you don't know what could have happened to her."
"Maybe the same as ya. Michonne said she found ya tied to a bed. Did he…" he asked, trailing off at the end so he didn't have to come out and say it.
"He threatened it as with a couple others."
"Fuck, AJ. When I saw ya left a picture of Travis, I wanted to go after ya. Rick had taken off and no one knew where he was. Lil' Asskicker wouldn't stop crying unless I held her so I had to step up. Knew ya could look after yourself but if I had known…"
"No one knew. I could have easily gotten out of that town with Max and came back here and things could have been different. I could have ended up somewhere else and gotten attacked by walkers. We don't know what could happen so we can only go with the flow. The important thing is I'm back with you, we're safe, and if should that bastard survive having his cock and balls shot off, he'll think twice before coming after us."
Dix chuckled and leaned down to kiss me. I glanced over at Max and found him asleep.
"Now. I'm going to try and sleep. You should go talk to your brother and give him a good ass-whopping for punching you and for what he did to me. But before you go, answer me one thing."
"Sure. What is it?"
"You named the baby Asskicker? Seriously?"
He kissed my forehead and left the cell.
