Chapter Nine

They had to drop down the last seven feet because if they'd released the ladder it would have made too much racket. He was ahead of her and she heard the sharp intake of breath when his feet hit the ground and his hand went to his side. She felt a sting of guilt and she worried that he would start bleeding again.

She landed lightly on her feet and looked up at him worriedly but he instantly shook his head. "I'm fine. Just stings."

She nodded and started down the narrow alley. It wasn't smart to stick around when they were blocked in on three sides by buildings. If another herd came by and noticed them down there, there was nowhere for them to go. The street was better, but only a little. Her and the others had done a good job fortifying the old warehouse they'd holed up in and she wanted to get to it. She needed to see how many people she had lost. She needed to organize search parties for ones that may still be alive but in trouble.

The street at the end of the alley was deserted, as she had expected it to be. The two herds that her and Daryl had been trapped by were on the other street at the front of the building and the part of the herd that split them up had went after the others and were likely a good distance away. As long as Cassidy and the others didn't come this way, her and Daryl should have clear streets to the warehouse. They ghosted through the streets like wraiths as darkness descended on them. She almost welcomed the dark and the threat of the walkers. It kept her mind busy and she needed that right now.

She had humiliated herself up there in that bathroom and she wanted to forget that it had ever happened. She had looked weak and pathetic and desperate and that wasn't who she was. Not anymore. And she'd be damned if she was going to revert back to the beaten down whimpering woman she had been.

She shook her head in disgust. She had been through hell. She had suffered loss after loss and she had come out on the other side alive and fighting. She wouldn't let down her guard. Not again.

She glanced over and scowled as he met her eyes. She could tell herself over and over that she wouldn't but already she could feel it. She could feel the walls she'd constructed around her heart start to weaken just from looking at him.

"We close to wherever we're goin'?" He whispered as she paused at the corner of a building. They were out of what used to be the bustling part of the city and back on the familiar industrial district. The ugly side of Atlanta. Well, uglier. All of Atlanta was pretty damn ugly now.

"We're almost there," she said, ready to step away from the building. She took in a sharp breath when suddenly he grabbed her arm and pulled her through a doorway. Before she could ask him what he was doing his hand came up, covering her mouth from behind. The building he pulled her into had a huge window next to the glass fronted door and he eased her backwards, keeping his hand over her mouth and her back pressed against his chest.

She was about to jerk away from him because his presence seemed overwhelming but then she looked up and saw four men, rifles strapped to their backs, strolling past. She didn't know how he had managed to hear them coming. It was obvious she was completely off her game. She was aware of how outnumbered and outgunned they were. If he hadn't heard them, she'd be as good as dead. She relaxed against him and he moved his hand from her mouth. She expected him to move away from her now that he was sure she knew they needed to lay low for a few minutes, but he didn't. His arm stayed banded around her middle and the hand that had covered her mouth was now resting low on her hip.

She became hyper aware of his proximity then. The heat of his body pressed flushed against hers, the steady rise and fall of his breath, the acceleration of his heartbeat, the warm exhale on the back of her neck and the subtle flex of his fingers into her hip.

The wall inside her weakened a little more and a new tension seemed to engulf them. Why hadn't he moved away from her yet? Why did she feel like if he did move away, it would cause her physical pain? His pulse quickened when her hand covered his, linking their fingers. She felt the pressure of his forehead hit her shoulder.

Wanting him like this was stupid. It was beyond stupid. She had even told herself that at the prison, back when he had been her friend. Back when he had looked after her like she meant something to him. But now it was even more stupid to feel this way. To want what she was wanting from him. But she couldn't talk any sense into her body or her mind or her heart. It had been so long since she had felt anything good. It had been so long since she had craved the touch of anyone at all, let alone a man. Especially this man, that had the power to crush her all over again.

She swallowed hard, amazed and terrified and almost ashamed of how intensely she was reacting to him. He turned his head, is nose skimming the delicate skin of her throat. She no longer felt his heartbeat thundering against her back because her own thrumming pulse was drowning out everything else.

"I think we can go now," he whispered, his voice smooth and low next to the shell of her ear. It was a timbre she'd never heard him use before and it sent a jolt through her that had her fingers tightening around his.

She nodded vaguely but didn't try to move. Didn't even want to move. But they had to go. She had a group that depended on her and she couldn't let her body's reaction to him cause her to lose focus. She sighed and then reluctantly pulled away, leaving him standing behind her as a physical ache started in her chest at the loss of his warmth.

~H~

He let her pull away. He didn't want to but it was the smartest move at this point. Everything was already more complicated than they needed to be between them and if he did what he had wanted to do then it was only going to make things worse. She was so different now, so closed off, but it was those small moments where she let glimpses of the woman he remembered shine through that had his head going in all different directions.

And even though he hated to admit it, felt bad for thinking it, it didn't matter who she was now as far as his body was concerned. He wanted her and he was certain that she felt the same way. He could smell it on her, and he could feel it in the subtle trembling of her hand when it had covered his. There were a lot of things that needed to be addressed between them, there were a lot of issues that needed to be talked over, but if she had given him even one more hint that, physically, she wanted him, then he would thrown all caution to the wind.

He had to get that out of his damn head but it wasn't easy. Especially when she turned to face him and he could see how wide her eyes were. See the color in her face and the way she bit down hard on her lip when she looked at him.

"You ready?" She asked.

He nodded and stepped around her, heading towards the door. He was ready. He was ready to rip her clo- He shook his head hard, dislodging the thought as he stepped out into the rain, reaching back and grabbing her hand just because he needed the reassurance that she was close. She didn't pull away so that was something at least. She wasn't scared off by the tense moment they had just shared.

He let her lead the way but she kept a firm grip on his hand, though her expression was troubled. Further into the city, somewhere behind them, more gunshots rang out and they both flinched. Her steps quickened and he knew she was eager to do a head count of her group. He silently hoped that wherever Merle was, he was at least safe for the time being.

She surprised him when she went to the middle of the street, standing there for a few moments before waving once. He strained his eyes in the dark but couldn't see anyone. She started walking again, towards a boarded up warehouse that sat away from the others. Slipping down the alley that cut the building off from the next she finally dropped his hand.

"They aren't gonna like the fact that I brought you here," she said softly.

He didn't say anything. He'd already guessed that. If these women were half as bitter as she was then he was probably in for some serious trouble.

Right before they made it to the back door it opened and a woman came out, ignoring him completely and throwing herself into Carol's arms. Carol hugged her back just as fiercely.

"I wasn't sure if you made it. Cassidy said you got surrounded and the last time she saw you there were walkers coming at you from all sides!" The girl said as she pulled away and then gripped Carol's hand, tugging her towards the entrance.

"I'm fine, Emma," Carol said reassuringly, closing the door behind them and then shoving a steal rod in place. "Cassidy is here?"

The girl nodded, glanced at Daryl and then did a double take. "You," she said in a hushed voice.

Daryl recognized her then. She'd been one of the younger ones, no more than eighteen. The men had killed her dad and taken her. She was one of the first ones he'd gotten out of the camp. He nodded to her.

"Your brother's here. Cassidy brought him in. Some of the others wanted to kill him but she wouldn't let them," Emma said hurriedly.

Daryl felt his eyes widen and he shared a look with Carol.

"Wait, Cassidy wouldn't let them kill him?" Carol asked, sounding surprised.

Emma nodded. "She wouldn't let many of us near him at all. She was pretty intense but then again, when isn't she?"

Carol flashed a nervous smile at the girl. "Do you know if she's hurt him?"

Daryl scoffed but both Carol and the girl shot him a look. "What? You two can't believe that some woman could-"

Emma cut him off, her eyes sliding back to Carol like Daryl wasn't even there. "She hasn't physically hurt him but I'd say he's a little humiliated at the moment. Right now he's cuffed to a pole wearing nothing but his underwear. I don't know if she wants to embarrass him before she kills him or what but he's pretty upset."

Carol shook her head, sighing loudly. "Lead the way, Emma. I have to see this."

Daryl trailed after them, noticing other women looking up as they passed, all of them glaring at him, even the ones he recognized. Carol was greeted warmly enough but they all seemed to bristle at his presence. He was sure that they had the wrong man. Merle wasn't invincible or anything but he doubted that a group of women could...

"Oh my God," Carol muttered when they stepped into a large cavernous space.

"Jesus he's gonna kill every woman in this place when he gets off there," Daryl whispered, his eyes wide and disbelieving. There was no way he was seeing what he was seeing. The girl had been right. Merle was standing there in the center of the room, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers shorts, his good hand cuffed to a steal pillar.

"Daryl?" Carol whispered.

He glanced down at her and was surprised to see that she was fighting back a laugh. He glanced back at his miserable brother and actually had to hold back a laugh of his own. This was insane. "What?"

"Was it laundry day? He has hearts on his underpants," she nodded towards Merle.

He tried not to laugh but the indignant look on his big brother's face was too much. And he was, indeed, wearing boxers shorts with hearts on them. Daryl barked out a laugh that had the women in the room tensing and aiming rifles right at them. When they saw Carol they instantly lowered their guns. Merle had spotted them now and he was scowling.

"What the fuck are you laughin' at you dick! Get me the fuck outta here or I swear I'm gonna fuckin'-"

"Stop your yelling or the shorts come off next." The voice came from the doorway across from them. He looked up and saw Cassidy step into the room. She regarded him coldly before turning those cold eyes on Carol. "Why did you bring him here?" She asked, angrily.

Carol tensed next to him. "I know him and so do you. He isn't a threat," Carol said in a hard voice. "And neither is his brother. If you were planning on killing Merle you should have done it before bringing him here."

Cassidy lifted her chin a fraction of an inch but he saw uncertainty in her eyes. "You really think the rest of our group is gonna go for that? For just letting them go?"

"I don't care what they think. We don't hurt people that haven't tried to hurt us. If anything, these girls owe this man and from what I've learned, you wouldn't have gotten away if not for Merle. So we're letting Merle put his clothes back on and we're letting them stay if that's what they decide to do."

Cassidy shook her head. "They aren't staying here."

Carol took a step towards her and even Merle was watching carefully, eyes flicking from one woman to the next. It looked like things could get pretty ugly and Daryl wanted his brother freed before that happened.