A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed/favorited since the last chapter! A little bit late, but another chapter all the same! A bit short, but I wanted to end with the episode instead of going on.
-galwidanatitud: The two best things a man can be!
-Littleraspberry: Thank you! I am hoping to be better at updating, but I've been lagging a bit here! I can promise that it will never be abandoned though!
-DancingDorisDay: When you get to this chapter, welcome! Thank you, I am glad you are enjoying it so much and I hope you stick around to read this response!
-Micky-Moo: Glad you liked it and yes intense Daryl is amazing!
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Rick, Hershel, and Daryl had gone to meet with the governor. My stomach refused to settle from how scared I was that they wouldn't come back, but we had things that needed to be done and that kept my mind busy. Rick, Michonne and Carl went on a run yesterday and had come back with some serious firepower. And a weird cat statue that now sat in Michonne's cell.
"Carl, you stash these at the loading dock. All right?" I handed Carl a few boxes of ammo before grabbing more with each hand. "Beth, put these up on the catwalk. If anyone gets separated, they'll need have plenty of ammo until we can get them out."
"I'll go work on the cage outside." Glenn grabbed a small blow torch and gun from the table beside me and I nodded.
"What we should be doing is loading some of this firepower in a truck and paying a visit to the Governor. We know where he is right now." I rolled my eyes at Merle's suggestion. All he had been talking about since we found out about the sit-down was taking out the governor.
"Are you suggesting that we just go in and kill him?" Glenn turned to look at Merle in disbelief.
"Yeah, I am." Merle leaned up against one of the metal dividers in the room.
"We told Rick and Daryl that we'd stay put." The tone in Michonne's voice left no room for argument.
"I've changed my mind, sweetheart. Being on the sideline with my brother out there ain't sitting right with me." I watched Merle's jaw clench and I couldn't help, but understand how he felt.
"The three of them are right in the middle of it." Glenn let the gun fall to his side as he spoke. "With no idea we're coming; they could get taken hostage or killed. A thousand things could go wrong." Glenn turned back towards the yard, but barely made it a step.
"And they will." Although I hated to admit it, I almost agreed with Merle. I didn't like the fact that we had sent people to meet with the Governor alone.
"My dad can take care of himself." I smiled a bit at the way Carl spoke. He was young enough that your parents still seemed like super heroes. Immortal and infallible.
"Sorry, son, but your dad's head could be on a pike real soon." Any amount of agreement I had with Merle went out the window and I glared at him, as Carl walked out of the room.
"Do not say that to him." I pointed at Merle and he rolled his eyes at me a bit, but didn't say more. "I don't like Daryl being out there anymore than you do, but it's not the right move." Glenn sighed and looked over at Merle.
"Not now. Can't take the risk of putting them in the crossfire." He pointed at Merle before turning to head outside again. "That's my decision. It's final."
I rolled my eyes. I had made the decision just as much as him, but with Merle acting out we had enough problems going on without Glenn and I getting into a power struggle. I rolled my neck feeling it ache from bending over the table for so long and stepped back. I needed a break and Judith was probably looking for some attention.
I sighed and smiled a bit as Judith fell asleep leaning up against me. I gently rolled her off my chest and into my hands, laying her gently into the mail carrier. I frowned at the sound of metal clanking coming from the main room. I watched Judith for a little bit to make sure she would stay asleep before I made my way down the stairs. I could now hear the makings of an argument, but I couldn't tell what was being said. I picked up my pace a bit, a sinking feeling about what was most likely going on and with who.
"Get out of my way." Well that was definitely Merle.
"No." And that sounds like Glenn
"Get out of my way! Let me go! Let me go!"
With the way the voices raised, I jogged the last few steps to turn into the common room. I rounded the corner to see Merle and Glenn going at it. I shook my head and grabbed a two by four from the floor where we had been piling things that we could use if, when, we had to defend ourselves. I walked up and clipped Merle on the side on the head. He went down hard and Glenn stared at me wide eyed.
"I'll put him in a cell." I grabbed his foot and tugged his body along the ground. Glenn walked up to help me, but I shook my head. "I need to do this. Maybe he'll listen to me."
I managed to drag him into the holding cell and locked the door. I leaned back against the bars of the cell and waited for Merle to regain consciousness. It took quite a while, but finally I sighed, watching Merle slowly woke up in the cell. I took a deep breath and pushed myself off the bars, walking over to the door. If there was ever a time I needed to get tough, it was now. Daryl wasn't here to save me.
"Good morning, sleepy head." Merle rolled to his side before he sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head. He blinked a few times before his eyes settled on me.
"Hey sugar tits, open the door." I glared at him and crossed my arms. He stared at me before shaking his head and pointing at me. "I'm not playin'…"
"Shut up." I was actually surprised when he closed his mouth and stared at me. "Now you listen to me. Daryl is not going to want to be separated again after he just found you and I refuse to live as some back country family with just the three of us out in the woods. So that leaves us with one option."
"I don' give a shit about…"
"Shut up and listen! Rick is letting you stay because we are going to need all the help we can get. You are going to make nice with everyone and everything is going to work out just fine." I wrapped my hand around one of the bars and leaned in. "And if you don't, you're going to wish you never made it off that roof." I turned away from the cell and headed back towards the group. "Now cool off!"
I walked back into the common room and saw Michonne standing on the far side. I walked over to her and tossed the keys at her. She managed to catch them before looking over at me surprised.
"I know he shot you, but you're as neutral as I've got right now. Give Merle some time in the cell and then let him out." She nodded at me and I turned around, heading back up to the perch. I wanted to hold Judith, she always made me feel like everything was fine. Maybe it's because she was still untouched by the world we were living in, or maybe it was my love of babies renewed, but something about holding Judith made me inexplicably happy.
I looked up quickly at the sound of the clanging metal doors. I stood up from the bunk and adjusted Judith, so she was leaning against my chest. I stood at the top of the stairs and let out a relieved sigh as Daryl jogged up them towards me. I smiled and wrapped my free arm around his shoulders as he pulled me close, careful not to crush Judith between us. He pulled back, keeping one arm around my shoulders and we both looked down the stairs towards Rick.
"So, I met this Governor. Sat with him for quite a while." Rick stood at the bottom of the stairs a hand on his gun, as he spoke out towards the group.
"Just the two of you?" I rolled my eyes at Merle and leaned myself against Daryl's side.
"Yeah."
"Should have gone when we had the chance, bro." I sighed and pressed my face against Daryl's chest as Merle shook his head at Glenn.
"He wants the prison. He wants us gone. Dead. He wants us dead for what we did to Woodbury." Rick dropped his hand from his gun and started out of the room towards the cage. "We're going to war."
I could feel my breath catch in my throat and I turned quickly wrapping my arm back around Daryl's shoulders. He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tightly. Judith grunted and shifted in between us not liking the tight space, but neither of us pulled back. Things were finally starting to settle. We could have built a life here; stayed here forever. Now we were having to fight to the death over a prison. The walkers had always been after us, wanted us dead, but they weren't organized. They didn't plan, they didn't strategize and they certainly didn't come after us with any kind of weapon. People were going to be coming after us, systematically with the singular purpose to kill us. I gripped Daryl's shirt tight in my fist and pushed my face into his neck, his strong pulse calming me slightly.