AN: This one gets somewhat of a violence warning for anyone who is bothered by/gets triggered by that. As always, I try not to be too graphic, but I will throw you a warning just in case.
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Andrea looked around one last time, not exactly sure what she was looking for, but it had become part of the locking up routine. She flicked the lights off and felt around in her pocket, patting her hip, to make sure that she'd actually picked up the keys instead of leaving them in the back which she very often did. Satisfied that all was turned off and the keys were in her pocket, she stepped out of the bar and pulled the heavy wooden door shut behind her. Carol was standing on the sidewalk, leaned against the brick wall, waiting for her.
"Not a bad night," Andrea commented, wrestling the old key into the lock and pushing the door a few times to make sure it was really locked.
"It was really good for a Friday night," Carol responded. "Good tips and we didn't even need Rick and Shane to clear anyone out."
"Can't beat that at the Watering Hole," Andrea said with a chuckle. She pocketed the keys and turned, starting down the sidewalk with Carol in the direction of the dump they shared apartments in.
It was Friday night in Sweet Junction and the town was as busy as it got for the most part. Teenagers were out trying their parents' nerves, old timers were out pretending they were young, but for the most part the little town belonged to the drunks at this hour. Everyone that had spilled out of the Watering Hole was out and about now, and there were a number of passing cars as people from some of the even smaller towns in the area were out seeing what mischief they could get into.
In the distance, back toward town more, you could hear the hooting and hollering every now and again of a few drunk rednecks who were more than likely showing off for their women. It was some kind of tobacco and beer scented mating ritual.
"Sounds like town's pretty rowdy," Carol commented.
Andrea turned to watch a couple of passing cars speed by, one of which contained some asshole who thought it was flattering to hang out the window and catcall the two of them as they made their way down the dimly lit road and past a few of the falling in old buildings that had once house businesses and now housed rats and winos on their best days.
"Uggh," Andrea commented as the car passed by. "I hate when they do that. Has that ever worked in their favor?"
Carol chuckled.
"I'm sure somewhere some woman has gone running after car, begging them to come back and take her right then and there," Carol remarked.
Andrea hooted at her response.
Andrea could hardly process what was happening when Ed's form appeared out of the shadows just ahead of them and grabbed Carol.
"The hell you think you're doing, you little bitch?" Ed growled. "That's enough of this shit, you're going home with me."
Carol screamed and Andrea snapped out of her momentary shock. She realized, though, that she had nothing on her. She'd even given her purse to Merle before he left the Watering Hole earlier.
"Get the hell off of her, Ed!" Andrea yelled, at least hoping to draw some attention. She knew, though, that they weren't likely to draw attention. There was enough hooting and hollering going on closer to the center of town, where most of the people were, that no one would be paying attention to anything going on out here. She knew that Ed knew that too, and she cursed herself for not thinking about it.
Carol was fighting against Ed as best she could and Andrea threw herself into the fight, trying to pry his hands away from Carol.
"Get the fuck out of here!" Ed yelled. Andrea felt his hand make contact with her feet and she stumbled backwards trying not to fall. "This doesn't concern you! This is between me and my wife."
Andrea watched helplessly for a moment as Ed tried to drag Carol toward the street, presumably toward his vehicle, though she didn't know what it looked like or where it was parked. Carol was screaming and Ed continued his insults. Both of them hit the ground once and Ed gained his feet again, quicker than Carol.
"You started hanging around with trash, didn't you? Made you feel like some big shit? You still nothing!" Ed yelled as he continued his assault. Andrea didn't know what else to do, so she launched herself at his back, sinking her teeth into his neck, or his shoulder, she wasn't sure which. It was the most savage thing, perhaps, that she could do, but it was all she could think of at the moment.
Ed turned his attention, then, from Carol to Andrea and she wrapped her legs around him, trying her best to hold on as he clawed at her, trying to get her off his back.
When he finally succeeded, and she crashed to the ground, he kicked her and she worked to regain her feet, becoming aware that Carol was attempting to get his attention again.
"Andrea, go!" Andrea heard Carol yell. She hated to leave her, but she knew that the only way they were going to make it out of this was with some kind of help. She ran as fast as she could toward the apartment building and scrambled up the stairs.
She shoved the door open and screamed for Daryl and Merle.
"It's Ed," she panted out as urgently as she could. "Go! He's got her just down the street!"
Both of them bolted from the apartment, half dressed, and Andrea crossed the hall, her hands shaking. She found her key to Carol's apartment and tried to will her hands to be still long enough to get the lock open so she could call the police.
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Daryl wasn't exactly sure what was happening when he heard Andrea screaming. He'd come out of his bedroom just to see her busting in the door and it took a moment for him to even wrap his mind around the fact that she was forming words.
At first he'd been obviously distracted by the fact that there was a lot of blood on her face. It was the kind of thing that could distract anyone.
Then he'd let her words start to sink in and he realized what was happening. Ed was out there, and he had Carol. Daryl shot out of the apartment as quickly as he could, faintly aware that Merle was behind him. He didn't remember going down the steps, but he must have because his feet hit the sidewalk and he realized that he wasn't wearing any shoes. He was only wearing his shorts and hadn't bothered with anything else.
Daryl's feet pounded on the sidewalk. He knew he'd find them, simply because it was a straight shot, and in the distance he could hear the sounds of Carol screaming and Ed yelling too. At least the sounds let him know that Ed hadn't gotten away with her, and that spurred him on, though he was beginning to hate himself for his smoking habit.
When Daryl finally caught sight of them, or rather caught side of Ed's sloppy silhouette in the darkness, he slammed into the man, allowing Ed's form to be the breaks for all the momentum that he'd built up while running from the apartment. Ed hit the ground and Daryl landed on top of him, momentarily stunned but far less stunned than the man who'd broken his fall.
Nothing about the fight was choreographed or organized in the slightest. Daryl threw blind punches in the darkness and received them as well. Everything around him seeming to move in slow motion. Merle, at some point, joined the fight and the three of them gained their feet without Daryl remembering making a move to do so.
Daryl fell back a moment, so out of breath that he thought he might pass out. His world was growing even darker than could be explained by the lack of lighting in that area and he stopped his attack to try and suck in some of the night air, fully intending to launch back into the fight as soon as he no longer felt like the ground beneath his feet was a merry go round.
Beyond the blood pounding in his ears, Daryl could hear the grunts and yells of Merle and Ed as they continued in the struggled. He could hear the wail of sirens moving closer to him and he could hear the sounds of screaming and sobs, though he could no longer identify whether it was Carol or Andrea making the sounds.
Daryl was doubled over, his sides aching from a few well-placed punches, and his hands on his legs, just between his knees. He looked up to see Ed running and Merle behind him, though in the darkness Daryl only knew which was which because it wasn't likely at this point that Ed would be chasing Merle Dixon if he had made any attempt at escaping the scene.
Daryl pulled together what he could and tried to jog after his brother. Ed had gained some ground and was in a car now, the same one that he'd escaped in the last time that Daryl had tangled with him. Merle was yelling something, pounding on the side of the car, but Daryl knew that their opportunity had come to a close.
Ed pulled the car out and drove off, but moments later one of the squad cars that was issuing the howling noise of the siren flew directly past the scene and after him. Daryl turned, then and stumbled back to where the fight had begun, hoping to make sense of all the madness.
The flashing blue lights of another squad car, coupled with the flashing red lights of two ambulances, lit up the darkness around them. Daryl realized that even though he'd thought the fight had happened pretty much in exactly the same spot, apparently the three of them had covered some ground in the struggle. He slinked back, looking for Carol, but he couldn't find her. He could only, for the moment, find Andrea who was crying and talking in such a way that she was difficult to understand.
One of the police officers, who he recognized as Rick Grimes when he got closer, had an arm around Andrea and was attempting to decipher the language she was speaking in now.
"What happened here?" Rick asked, directing his question to Daryl then.
"Was Ed," Daryl said. When he tried to speak he realized he still couldn't breathe well and his hand went to his side where he was sure that he at least had one or two bruised ribs. "Was Ed," he repeated, feeling like an idiot because that was all that he could get out.
Daryl wondered briefly where Merle was, and he wondered how long they'd been out there. Part of him would have sworn the entire thing had only lasted a few minutes, but another part of him almost believed that they'd been at it for hours.
"Carol?" He spat finally.
"She's in the ambulance," Rick said. "She's going to be fine."
Daryl felt a hand on his shoulder that he roughly shrugged off before he realized that it belonged to the police officer that was trying to talk to him and trying to talk to Andrea who sounded like she was choking to death.
Daryl stood there on the sidewalk for a moment and watched, almost feeling completely confused, as Rick led Andrea toward the flashing red lights. One of the ambulances pulled out, the sirens still wailing, and Daryl's stomach sunk. He wondered if Carol was in the ambulance and was she alright. He wondered how far Ed had gotten, and if the other car had caught up with him yet.
Merle somehow magically appeared beside Daryl, spitting out curse words and asking questions that either weren't correctly formulated or Daryl couldn't focus on them enough to understand them.
"I think you should come with us," Rick said. "Let the medical team have a look at you."
Daryl's head was beginning to clear then, and he was beginning to breathe a little more regularly. Rick Grimes had magically appeared in front of him again, but he was missing Andrea now.
"I'm fine," Daryl said. "He got…he got a couple a' punches in, but I'm fine," Daryl tried to assure the man. "Merle?" Daryl asked, searching out his brother in the flashing lights that illuminated his space. "Ya alright?"
"Hell yeah I'm alright," Merle growled. "Son of a bitch gouged me in the fuckin' eye, but I'm damn near certain I broke his fuckin' jaw."
"Listen," Rick said, "you two need to come with us. We'll go to the hospital, let them check you out, and I'll get your statements. You're not in trouble here, I just need statements."
"Where's Carol?" Daryl asked. "I didn't see her, is she OK?"
Rick reached out and put his hand on Daryl's shoulder.
"They're taking her to the hospital, she's going to be fine. She'll beat us there by at least half an hour," Rick said. "I need you two to come with me."
Daryl nodded. He didn't care how he got to the hospital at this point, he just wanted to know for sure that Carol was alright. He wanted to see her with his own eyes. Daryl glanced toward the second ambulance, the one that sat there with its siren off and its garish red lights flashing around in circles. Men in uniforms were circling around it, all talking to one another, but it appeared that nothing exciting was taking place there. He watched a second as someone closed the doors to the back of it and one of the uniformed men came over and spoke to Rick, though Daryl couldn't make out anything of their hushed conversation.
The uniformed man returned to the ambulance and Rick turned back to Daryl.
"They're taking Andrea now," Rick said, in the same condescending voice that police officers always used when they wanted you to be calm about whatever crisis was taking place. "I'll drive you two."
"Fine," Daryl said. "I just wanna get there."
Rick nodded. He looked at both of them.
"Do you have clothes? Can we get you something or do you think you need more immediate attention?" Rick asked.
Daryl shook his head. He was sure he had some bruised ribs. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he'd scraped his legs up in his first fall with Ed, and he thought that Ed may have landed one or two good punches on his face, but he could tell immediately that he wasn't in any grave danger.
"I'm good, we got clothes at the apartment," Daryl said. "Ya alright, Merle?" Daryl asked. Merle was standing beside him, in a more clothed state than he was.
"I'm fine, damn it," Merle growled.
Daryl regretted for a moment that Merle was drunk. They hadn't been back at the apartment for more than a half hour from the Watering Hole. Daryl had maybe three shots, but Merle had put in a pretty steady night and Daryl hoped it wasn't going to count against him in this situation.
Daryl and Merle both followed Rick to his car. His lights off now, Rick drove them to their apartment building. Merle declared that the only thing he needed was shoes, so Daryl made his way up the stairs to get their clothes. The door to Carol's apartment was open when he got to the top of the stairs, and the key was stuck in the lock. Daryl reasoned that Andrea had called the police and probably the ambulances. He pulled the door shut, turned the key over in his hand a moment after locking the door, and stuck it in his pocket. He crossed the hall to his apartment, stepped inside and quickly found a shirt to pull on, and left carrying his shoes and Merle's shoes in his arm. He pulled the door shut and started down the stairs, heading back to the squad car.
As he let Rick Grimes shut him in the backseat beside his brother in keeping with protocol, he passed Merle his shoes.
"We was drinkin' 'fore all this happened," Daryl said, "but we weren't part a' startin' nothin'." He felt like if he could explain himself, maybe he'd be able to keep them from getting the lion's share of the blame in this.
Rick nodded his head in the front seat, directing the car in the direction that Daryl assumed the closest hospital must be, though he'd never seen one in Sweet Junction and thought that maybe they'd have to go somewhere else.
Daryl started to wrestle into his shoes. Merle almost had his own.
"Don't worry about it," Rick said. "The drinking is the least of our concerns right now and we have Andrea's testimony that the two of you were acting in defense of her and Carol after Ed started the fight. This isn't about trying to lay the blame on either one of you."
"Did the other guy catch him?" Daryl asked.
"Excuse me?" Rick asked, glancing in the rearview mirror.
"The other police officer, the one who was after Ed, did he catch him?" Daryl asked.
"I can't discuss that right now," Rick said, "but don't worry about it."
"Did'ja see Carol? Was she OK?" Daryl asked.
"She's going to be fine," Rick said.
Daryl hated officials of any sort and their textbook responses to anything. He'd learned a long time ago that they never told you any damn thing straight until they absolutely had to. Now that he was calming down, he was aching from the after effects of the fight. Merle sat calmly beside him, having spent a good deal of time in the back of squad cars, with his hand over his eye, not speaking. Apparently he thought it best to keep his mouth closed in this situation.
Daryl felt his stomach churn. He hoped they caught Ed. Part of him, deep down, hoped that Ed resisted arrest. The man had smelt like a straight up liquor cabinet, so the best of his senses weren't with him. Daryl hoped that he was belligerent enough, and that the other officer was hot headed enough, that somehow Ed Peletier ended his night in a body bag.
He didn't know how far away the hospital was, or how fast the ambulance with the siren travelled in comparison to them, but he hoped that when he got to the hospital he was going to get to see Carol and that nothing was going to be wrong.
They were supposed to be going on a picnic the next day. It was going to be a good day. It was going to be all about fried chicken, potato salad, and jars of sweet tea. They were all going to laugh and talk and he was going to flirt with her and try to convince her to kiss him in the truck on the way there. He wasn't supposed to be in the back of a squad car with his brother headed toward a no name hospital with his stomach churning in worry.