Chapter Forty Two

Merle swallowed hard, shielding his eyes from the sun that was glaring off the hood of the truck. He was relieved, because he knew from the sheer number of walkers surrounding the place, that there were living people inside. The walkers wouldn't have bothered with the place if there wasn't anyone in there to eat. And the building was close enough to the highway that his family were likely some of those survivors.

The problem was getting in there to check. They couldn't turn around and take the kids and Katherine back home. He knew that whoever was in there would have plenty of access to food and water inside the Mega Center, since membership only stores like that sold everything in bulk, but he spotted the big pearly SUV near the loading docks when they had circled around. If his family was there, they were in there with Richard and though it hadn't been long since him and his son had left the mountain, it wouldn't take a man like him much time to gather himself a following.

That was the kicker about most people. They needed order and structure and they needed someone else to tell them what to do to attain it. Society was conditioned this way. If there wasn't someone in power to tell them how to live and what to and what not to do, who to hate and who not to hate, then modern civilization would collapse. Truth of the matter was, that shit simply wasn't true. But trying to convince the masses of that was a damn chore, indeed, because to live in a free world, one had to be held accountable and that was too frightening for the masses. And that conditioning, that need for a leader, wouldn't have subsided just because the world was changed now.

"Fuckin' sheep," Merle cursed under his breath. It was this very fucking attitude that would allow that pompous cocksucker to rise to the top of the ranks again.

"What?" Katherine asked.

He glanced down and shook his head, not realizing he had even spoken out loud. Easing back he gripped her elbow and put his finger to her lips.

She stared wide eyed and clearly scared but nodded quickly and followed him back to the road where the others were waiting. When the two of them topped the rise and looked back down at the huge parking lot teaming with walkers he had no idea how the hell they were going to make it inside. Or how in the hell were they gonna save their people?

"Told you," Daryl said, crossing his arms over his chest. Him and Carol had went out and scoped the lot first while Merle stayed with the girls but he hadn't really believed it was this bad. This wasn't exactly a busy section of the state so why the fuck were all those dead bastards there?

"Don't make no sense," Merle muttered, stalking past.

"So how you figure we're gettin' in there?" Daryl asked as Merle sidled up next to him.

He ran a hand over his short cropped hair and shook his head. "There's a damn lot of those things and they're surrounding the whole place. We ain't gettin' in, I know that much."

"Diversion?" Katherine asked, her eyes peering into the truck where Sam was waiting with Piper and Sophia.

"That's probably the only way," Carol agreed. "The problem is, who makes the diversion and who goes inside?"

The four of them stood there in silence for a while before Merle spoke up. "Either damn job will be dangerous, and we got the kid to think about." He was surprised at himself. He wasn't annoyed at the fact that the girl was complicating things but the look on Katherine's face told him that she was afraid that his mind was there.

Daryl ran a hand over his face and blew out a heavy breath. "Here's what we can do. I'll take the girls with me. We can make enough noise to get their attention and once they have it, they'll come after us. We can lead them away, take our time and get them far enough and then we can circle back. You take Carol and Katherine with you."

Merle could see in his eyes that he didn't want to leave the woman, not even with Merle, but he didn't have a choice. Carol knew her way around a gun now and he would need someone to have his back. Piper had skills so Daryl wouldn't exactly be on his own out there but Merle felt his stomach turn at the thought of his daughter deliberately drawing attention to herself so she could be chased down. It didn't matter how tough she was, she was his kid and he'd already lived through thinking that he lost her once. He didn't want to go through that again.

"It's a solid plan," Daryl said, reading the hesitancy in Merle's eyes.

"I know it, goddamn it. I just wish there was another damn way."

Daryl frowned and glanced at Carol quickly. "Yeah, you and me both."

~H~

She trusted him with Sophia's life.

This realization was almost startling. Not that she had any reason to distrust him at all, because he'd proven himself over and over. He cared about them both, and he'd protect the girl with his life. Carol wasn't used to feeling that much trust for another person, especially when it came to her daughter and it solidified her relationship with Daryl in her mind.

"I know you don't wanna go without her but-" Daryl started but she shook her head firmly.

"I know you'll take care of her. This is the only option we have. Sophia learned a lot from Damon so she isn't as helpless as she used to be. My only concern is you four running out of gas or the truck messing up and you getting trapped." She looked up sharply and scowled. "Why did I even have to say that out loud?"

The corner of his mouth came up and he glanced over the hood of the truck where Merle and Katherine were discussing something away from the ears of everyone else. "Because it's you. But don't worry about the truck. I looked it over myself and it runs fine. We've got plenty of fuel for now. We'll lead these bastards off and you three will go in and save the rest of them. Once we circle around, we'll be your backup in case things go south inside."

She met his eyes and wished they were alone. At least for a few minutes.

"Roll out," Merle called, causing her to jump.

Daryl gave Merle a look and watched as he walked away with Katherine in tow. Before she could warn him one more time to be careful he hooked his finger into the waistband of her jeans and pulled her towards him. He kissed her hard, conveying more in the way his lips moved with hers than he ever could with his words alone. She realized then that he was afraid, not for himself and the girls but for her and his brother and the others. She felt in her bones that they were in there, simply waiting for them to show up and get them out and he seemed to feel the same.

He pressed his lips to hers one last time before he pulled away, gave her one more lingering look and then stalked off towards the truck.

"You gonna jump his bones or come with us?" Merle called from the side of the road.

She pursed her lips and held up her finger, hurrying to the truck so she could say goodbye to her daughter. Sophia jumped down from the truck, her eyes alight with what Carol assumed was hope that they would succeed in finding the others. Before she could say anything she was hugging her hard.

"Be careful in there, mom," she said, tightening her hold.

Carol smiled, closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the girl before letting her go, gripping her shoulders hard and meeting her eyes. "Whatever happens, you listen to him, okay? No matter what."

Sophia nodded. "Planned on it."

She kissed her cheek and dropped her hands, waiting for her to climb back into the truck. From over the truck bed she caught Daryl's eye again.

"I got her," he said.

She smiled and was surprised that she was able to do so. "Trust me, I know you do."

~H~

Something was going on with the people in Richard's little group and Damon was having a hard time keeping his nerves from showing. Things would be a lot easier if it was just Damon and his own family but there were a lot of people trapped that had no idea what kind of inner turmoil was brewing. And it also wasn't easy keeping Odin in check. The man was a little like Merle in that aspect. Unpredictable.

Eli seemed grim but determined to do what he had to do and Damon was thankful that he had someone that he knew he could count on. Not that he couldn't count on his parents but there was no way either of them would allow him to get his hands dirty the way he needed to get them dirty. When it came to him, in their eyes, the world hadn't changed enough to warrant letting him commit murder and that was what this was.

He had every intention of killing Richard Sandoval and his goddamn nut case son. The world was already bad. It was already filled with unthinkable horrors and he couldn't walk away from this place knowing that he allowed them to keep breathing, allowed them to round up more men to come for Damon's own family. If they were ever going to find any peace, then he had to do this.

"You notice how fidgety those assholes are all a sudden?" Eli asked, leaning his shoulder into Damon's as they sat with their backs to one of the shelves.

Damon pushed his hair out of his face and leaned his head back, following the movement of the group with his eyes. "Been that way all mornin'," he whispered back. "It's almost like they know something is about to go down."

Eli was quiet for a few long moments and then he shook his head. "I got a bad feeling about this."

Damon smiled grimly. "You've been sayin' that ever since we talked about it last night."

"Yeah, well, I was brought up around a lot of rough mother fuckers, but I haven't ever had to actually be one, ya know? My dad, he worked on those guy's bikes. We weren't exactly a part of that lifestyle. I was born in the wrong era, man. I'm a pacifist. I got a boat load of Bob Dylan records stashed at the cabin."

"What the hell does Bob Dylan have to do with anything goin' on here?" Damon asked, glad for the distraction.

Eli shrugged. "Because... I don't know. shut up. I'm nervous. I ramble when I'm nervous."

Damon understood. He was a Dixon, and that meant a lot of things, and he knew that he was capable of a whole lot but he'd never actually believed that he would be put in a situation like this. To kill a man in self defense, or defending your family was one thing. Sneaking up on someone that didn't expect it, and taking their life from them, that was something else. He wasn't born to be a killer, but if that's what it would take for him to insure the safety of the people he loved then so be it. He would be fine.

"Look, Eli," I can do this on my own if I need to. And I wouldn't blame you a damn bit, alright? Ain't none of us the murderin' type."

Eli shook his head. "Nah. If what you've told me about these two is true, it needs to happen and as much as I hate to admit it, I wouldn't feel right not doing my part. We have a chance up there and if you screw up and these assholes walk just because I didn't have the balls to help then that's on me."

"I thought you hippie types was all about peace and love," Damon muttered, trying to lighten the mood.

Eli smiled, though it was a grim one. "We are. But if we don't do this, we won't have any peace, and anybody we love will likely lose everything. So, when are we doin' this?"

Damon eyed the men and, as though he could feel his eyes on him, Richard looked up, staring at Damon from over the shoulder of one of his men. The look was hard and Damon knew then that Richard didn't have any plans of letting things go. He was planning something and Damon knew it.

"Soon," he whispered, not taking his eyes off the man. "Real fuckin' soon."