Newly Revised
Daryl rounded on T-Dog and swung his bow up to point it right at T-Dog's head, Rick brought up his Python, holding it close to Daryl's temple. Tea tried to move over to Rick to disarm the man, but Glenn actually reached out and grabbed a hold of her wrist, pulling her back out of the way. She rounded on the Asian with every intent to cuss him out, but the look on his face and the sound of the hammer clicking back stopped her. Even if she was able to get to the cop and try to take his gun away, one wrong movement could cause the gun to fire. It wasn't worth the risk of accidentally shooting someone on top of the risk of being overrun by walkers due to the sound. While she had brought her Glock with her, she didn't plan on using it unless she absolutely had to.
"I will shoot," she heard Rick state seriously with a voice just above a whisper. "I don't care if every walker in the city hears it."
"I do," Tea growled out in reply, her anger and guilt getting the best of her in the moment. "Jus' 'cause ya got a death wish don' mean we all do. Now get that fuckin' gun off Daryl."
After a prolonged moment in which Tea knew Daryl was contemplating just shooting T-Dog on principal alone, but ultimately he lowered his crossbow. She knew she couldn't do much to make him feel better about this entire situation. Finding Merle's severed hand was the last thing they had expected when it came to saving Merle. Sure, the raging asshole would, in fact, be raging, but they hadn't expected him to just not be there at all. All Tea was able to do in that moment was walk up to Daryl and gently place a hand on his back for a moment before dropping it, the man trying to keep his emotions in check. He wasn't someone who liked showing them around others even if he was willing to around her, and even that had been few and far between outside of their other activities.
"You got a, uh," he started before stumbling over his words, clearing his throat, and starting over, stepping away from Tea. "You got a do-rag or somethin'?"
T-Dog reached into his back pocket and handed the hunter a clean handkerchief. Daryl took it and walked by Tea, reaching out and squeezing her shoulder as he did. The others be damned if they said anything about the way they were touching each other more than they had ever seen when they were both in need of the reassurance they gave. Guilt was weighing them both down badly as they each felt responsible for how Merle ended up in his situation. If she was all Daryl had left, she wanted to show her support and offer him comfort. Daryl's reasons for reaching out aligned with hers, needing to feel her for comfort as much as he was giving it. Walking over to the severed hand, Daryl breathed out through his mouth a couple times before bending down. He laid out the rag carefully before he picked up the severed appendage and brought it up closer to his face to look at it.
He put it down on the rag afterwards as he commented, "I guess the, uh, saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs. Ain't that a bitch." He held it up and examined it once more and letting Tea look at it before wrapping it in the rag and putting it in Glenn's backpack. "He must've used his belt as a tourniquet. There'd be more blood if he didn't."
"Why didn' 'e jus' break 'is thumb? He could a kept 'is hand if 'e had done that. And the blade wasn' much betta for 'is hand from the rough edges on the bone," she said calmly, completely devoid of emotion as he passed her.
They started to follow the trail of the blood, T-Dog stopping to grab Dale's tools before catching up. Daryl took point with Tea behind him, Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog trailing along. She grabbed her buck knife out along with a throwing knife, keeping close to Daryl's back to make sure that she kept him covered. Walking across the roof to the second doorway connecting the other side of the building to the department store, they followed the trail of blood. Giving each other a look of trepidation while preparing for anything that could happen when they opened the door, Daryl, Tea, and Rick opened the door to the stairwell with their chosen weapons up and ready. There was nothing that they could see, the three of them becoming more relaxed as they entered the building once again.
"Merle? You in here?" Daryl called.
"Merle?" Tea yelled out a little louder.
"Keep your voices down," Rick said.
Daryl scoffed at him while Tea rolled her highs before they continued on. It looked like it was just a typical office building as they entered the higher floors that weren't used for utility or storage. Daryl took out a walker in one office while Tea took out another in the hall, each going to retrieve their respective projectiles. They looked at each other afterwards and gave the other a nod that they were good before coming back to where Rick and T-Dog were and continuing on. It didn't take them long to follow the blood trail and find more proof of Merle's presence as they walked into yet another office, finding two dead walkers with smashed in faces.
"Had enough in 'im to take out these two sons a bitches," Daryl said. "One handed. Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Give him a hammer and he'll crap out nails."
"Any man can pass out from blood loss," Rick said as Daryl knocked his bow and placed the arrow. "No matter how tough he is."
They continued on, Rick taking point this time much to Tea's displeasure. He had the noisiest weapon in the group, and so should be taking up the rear rather than the front. T-Dog was taking up the rear as stupid a choice as that was considering the man didn't even have a weapon. At least Glenn was staying in between those who did have weapons and being smart about it. She digressed, however, having T-Dog go in front of her before turning to Daryl when he followed the other two along. She grabbed onto his wrist and stopped him before they followed after the others.
"Ya ok?" she asked.
"I'll be fine, Ania. Let's just find him and go back," Daryl said with a huff.
"I'm sorry."
"No more your fault than mine, girl. Stop apologizin'."
She squeezed his hand before they caught up with the trio a short ways ahead. The blood trail took them further into the floor and into what looked like a restaurant, or at least a staff kitchen. Daryl had once again taken point with Rick trailing close behind behind, Glenn and T-Dog following them. When they'd rounded a corner earlier, a walker had come out at T-Dog, catching the man by surprise before Tea's buck knife was in its temple. Not wanting them to be surprised again, she'd taken up position to where they were covered from all sides, rather than just the front or middle. She still thought it was stupid how the two men had come into the city without weapons and Rick had only brought his pistol.
"Merle!" Daryl called out again as they entered the kitchen.
"Keep it down," Rick said. "We're not alone here. Remember?"
"I know," Daryl countered. "Could be bleedin' out. You said so yourself."
Even though he'd said that, Daryl stayed quiet as they cautiously moved further into the room. It smelled horrible to Tea, who froze when they came to a stove. Obviously it hadn't been turned on, but there were butane warmers that went under buffets still on fire with a flat iron for meat sitting next to them. Rick picked it up as Daryl began looking around for other signs of Merle. On the flat iron was an obvious burn mark, the smell in the air immediately turning Tea's stomach as she realized what it was.
"What's that burned stuff?" Glenn asked.
"It's skin," Tea said, obviously distressed as her accent once again came out thick. "He stupidly tried ta cautarize the wound! Stupid fuckin' redneck! Shoulda left the fuckin' belt on and kept it elevated! He's gonna infect the stump if he don' do it right!"
She was rightly worked up, pulling at her hair and spinning in circles as her breathing started to become agitated. Daryl recognized that she was in the beginning stages of a panic attack. Whatever his brother had done wrong by cauterizing the wound, it had her more worried than he'd seen her since he'd kissed her when she'd run. Knowing she wouldn't be able to calm down on her with how worked she was, Daryl moved from the window he'd found and over to Tea. He didn't care about the others seeing it or what they thought about them when he grabbed her and pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her as she explained why she was so worried.
"There's artaries, the radial and ulnar, in the wrists, Daryl. He had ta cut through bot'. Ya can' jus' burn an artary like that closed. It don' work like that. Too much risk for infection, 'e could bleed out, 'e could attract all the fuckin' walkas in the damn city! Why didn' 'e wait?! He had ta know ya would be comin' for 'im. Blood is blood, for fuck's sake! If 'e really did know 'bout us, 'e knew I'd come, too. Why didn' the bastard jus' wait for us? Why couldn' 'e jus' wait?" she said as she broke down.
"We'll find him, Ania. We'll find him," Daryl whispered, raising his voice just a little to try to reassure her. "He's tough. Nobody can kill Merle but Merle."
He jus' mighta done so, Tea thought to herself even though there was no way was she going to say it out loud.
"Don't take that on faith," Rick told him, having overheard the last part of what he'd said. "He's lost an awful lot of blood."
"Oh yeah," Daryl said in confidence, releasing Ania while walking over to a busted window he'd noticed earlier. "That didn't stop him from bustin' outta this death trap."
"He left the building?" Glenn asked as Rick poked his head out. "Why the hell would he do that?"
"Why wouldn't he?" Daryl countered. "He's out there alone as far as he knows. Doin' what he's gotta do. Survivin'."
"You call that survivin'?" T-Dog started. "Just wandering around in the streets, maybe passin' out. What are his odds out there, huh?"
"Betta than bein' handcuffed ta a roof like an animal and left ta die by y'all," Tea responded hotly, forcing T-Dog and Glenn both to look away from her and Daryl while Rick wore obvious regret on his face.
"You couldn't kill him," Daryl said standing less than a foot from Rick. "Ain't so worried about some dumb, dead bastard."
"What about a thousand dumb, dead bastards? Different story?" Rick responded.
"Take a tally. You do what ya want. We're gonna go get him," Daryl said calmly before going to walk past Rick.
Rick made the wrong move by putting his hand on Daryl's chest and pushing him back, "Daryl, wait."
"Get your hands off me! You can't stop me!"
"I don't blame you," Rick said, getting in Daryl's way while Tea stepped closer. "He's family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine. I know exactly how you feel. He can't get far on that injury. Now, we can help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head."
He leveled a look at Daryl before turning to Tea and doing the same, Daryl's eyes flitting to her as she nodded her head in acceptance before he responded, "We can do that."
"Only if we get those guns first," T-Dog interrupted. "I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta on just my good intentions, ok?"
~x~
"You're not doing this alone," Rick said as Glenn and Tea huddled over a whiteboard she had drawn a map on with Glenn's help.
They were in another office room with multiple desks, making it convenient to find things to use as markers. Glenn accidentally brushed Tea's shoulder with his and it didn't escape Daryl's notice that she barely had a reaction other than to glance to the side at him. He wasn't sure why it bothered him, seeing as she looked more annoyed than amused, but it did. Tea, herself, wasn't too thrilled for being so close to Glenn, but T-Dog had been right that they needed to get the guns if they were going to go deeper into the city. They would need the extra protection if they met with any number of walkers that they couldn't handle by running away.
"Even I think it's a bad idea, and I don't even like you much," Daryl said, jealousy flaring up where he knew it wasn't needed; it was pretty obvious that Tea wasn't happy being so close to the boy next to her and was only staying where she was to help make the plan.
"It's a good idea," Glenn started. "Ok, if you would just hear me out. If we go out there in a group, we're slow and draw attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast. Look," he brought out a clip, "that's the tank. Five blocks from where we are now. Here's the bag of guns. Here's the alley I dragged you into when we first met. That's where Daryl, Tea, and I will go."
"Why us?" Daryl asked.
"Your crossbow is quieta than Rick's gun, and I have enough knives ta take out immediate threats," Tea said while looking up at him.
"Exactly," Glenn agreed. "While they wait in the alley, I run up the street and grab the bag."
"But you got us elsewhere?" Rick inquired.
"You and T-Dog, right," he placed an eraser on the board to indicate where he wants the two of them. "You'll be in this alley here."
"Two blocks away, why?"
"I may not be able to come back the same way. Walkers might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to Daryl and Tea. I'll go forward instead, all the way around to that alley where you guys are. Whichever way I go I got you in both places to cover me. Afterwards, we'll all meet back here."
"Hey kid," Daryl said. "What you do before all this?"
"Delivered pizzas, why?"
Rick and Daryl shared a look before the latter quirked his eyebrow and nodded his head, looking down towards the ground. Tea thought the plan was a good one, but there was just one thing in her head that she didn't like. Glenn had no weapons whatsoever, so even if he was fast, if he got caught off guard, he would still be screwed. She just didn't like the thought of leaving someone defenseless on such a dangerous run. There was no way he wouldn't run into walkers and there was no way they wouldn't try to block him off. And if got blocked one way, there was a good chance he would get blocked the other way, too.
"I think I should run with ya, Glenn," she said only to be met with three 'no's' and a 'hell no' from her redneck, making her smirk and shake her head before turning to the man in question. "Ya don' have a single weapon. What happens if ya need ta take out a walka that's blockin' ya path ta go in eitha direction? Ya know damn well I'm fasta and quieta than ya, so it's not like I'm gonna be makin' it harda for ya ta grab the guns. And I got my throwin' knives ta make sure nothin' gets too close, and I got my Glock if it comes ta us or the noise."
"True," Glenn said after a moment's thought.
"No, Ania," Daryl said aloud, earning him a glare for using that name out loud around the others.
"Daryl," Rick said, "it makes more sense and allows us all to stay safe."
"'Sides, I'll have ya watchin' out for me, right?" she asked him while walking up and placing her hand on his bicep.
Daryl looked into her emerald orbs, knowing that she trusted him, before angrily shouting and walking away from her, "Fine!"
He stormed out of the room after that while the rest got their gear ready, what little they had. After handing T-Dog her machete and telling him it was only on loan, she followed after Daryl into the hallway. She could almost feel the emotions rolling off him in waves as he leaned against the wall with a scowl on his face. He was angry at the group for leaving his brother behind. He was obviously angry at her for offering to go on this dangerous run with Glenn and especially because it was with Glenn. He was also angry at himself for being so selfish that he kept her from going to Atlanta in the first place when he knew she was the only person who could stand up to Merle. He was hurt because Merle hadn't waited for him and hadn't trusted Daryl enough to come get him. And he was afraid, though Tea thought it was because he was afraid of being alone without his brother. While that was part of it, Daryl was also afraid of losing the last thing he had left because she had a bleeding fucking heart.
"Where's your machete?" he asked.
"Loaned it ta T-Dog 'til we get the guns. Still got Bucky and the Darts, though, and my Glock. I'm good."
"So fuckin' stupid," he muttered as he grabbed her hand and pulled her against him as he leaned back against the wall, wrapping his arms around her. "Ya gonna get yourself killed givin' away your weapons like that."
"Didn' give it away, lent it out. I'll come back ta ya, I promise," she told him softly.
"You better," was the last thing he said before he lowered his head and kissed her deeply.
They were so engrossed in themselves they didn't notice Glenn stick his head out and see them before going back into the room flustered, "They, uh, they need a minute."
"The hell they doin'?" T-Dog asked.
"Uh," Glenn awkwardly said as he wasn't sure how he should reply.
Rick saved him from answering the question by asking, "Is her name Tea or Ania?"
"I've never heard anyone call her that before Daryl did today," Glenn told him honestly, T-Dog agreeing with him.
"So, a different nickname?" Rick inquired with a slight smirk, shaking his head with a small chuckle as he realized what was probably happening.
"Maybe. But why would he call her something different?" T-Dog asked.
"They do spend a lot of time together," Glenn chimed in, trying and failing to keep his face neutral.
"Don't tell me you think those two are hookin' up?" T-Dog said incredulously.
"You'd be surprised. End of the world. All kinds of things could happen," Rick answered.
"Dude's gotta be over a decade older than her, man," he responded.
"I've seen larger gaps than that. It's not really that strange when you think about it," Rick said with a shrug.
No one said anything else as the two hunters walked back into the room. Neither of them said anything or acted any different until Tea raised her eyebrow as she took in the fact that Glenn kept looking away from them. She seemed to look around the room, though T-Dog and Rick didn't act any different and looking to Daryl, he was fiddling with his crossbow and not even paying attention to the others. Rick had a small smile on his face as he double checked his gun at the confused look on her face as she looked around, though she ended up shrugging her shoulders slightly before doing a double check on her own weapons.
~x~
She followed Daryl down the ladder, both focusing on the climb and their footing. It was quite a far way down, and no one wanted to slip, especially Tea, who was having problems with her anxiety as it was due to her fear of heights combined with that of falling. As Glenn reached the bottom, he waited for Daryl to hop down. He was polite enough not to look up as Tea continued down the ladder, an act that went unnoticed by the duo. Daryl took the chance to cop a feel of her ass in the form of helping her down the last few rungs. She couldn't help but laugh softly at him and smacking his chest before they both headed toward the entrance to the alley. It had been blocked off with a gate which meant they would have protection from the walkers, but it also added another obstacle in their way back if they were being chased closely.
"You got some balls for a China-man," Daryl said.
"I'm Korean."
"Whatever," Daryl said as he opened the gate and Glenn and Tea began their run.
They kept low as they ran towards the bag. Tea was following Glenn because she wasn't sure where the bag was on the street but he did and she was technically just his back-up. They attracted a few walkers' attention, but most were in vehicles of some kind and would not be able to get to them easily. It didn't take long to get to the military barricade the guns were just behind. She waited as Glenn threw himself over the sandbags for him to grab the bag of guns. As soon as he had the bag, he started towards her only to turn around and grab a hat that she assumed was Rick's since it had a badge on it before jumping back over the barricade. Together they started the return trip, hearing as someone called out in Spanish and Daryl's voice echoing right behind. Tea picked up her pace as she heard more voices, running into the alley only to find Daryl being beat on by a couple of guys of Hispanic descent. They were both using baseball bats to hit Daryl and keep him down, which caused her to see red and ready her throwing knife for the kill. Glenn running in noisily after her took her advantage of surprise away and caused the attention to be drawn to the both of them.
"That's it, that's the bag!"
"Take it!"
Tea couldn't help but head towards Glenn as the men rushed them in an attempt to keep the young man protected. The only problem was that she had stupidly left her back open to attack and had taken a hit by the bat from one of them. Tea fell on top of Glenn as the men began pulling at the bag that was now completely beneath him, punching, kicking, and hitting at them with the bats in an attempt to get to the damn thing. It wasn't worth all this problem to have extra guns, but all she could do was turn over and try to block as many of the blows as possible. Tea was doing a good job making sure none of their kicks or blows landed anywhere important, but she was having a hard time getting a go in offensively and the blows were not light. At least, that was until Daryl shot the bigger one in the ass as he got up from the ground. It gave her enough leeway to kick the other one's knee back, effectively leaving the duo crippled. She rolled off Glenn and made to push herself off the ground as Daryl reloaded his bow and took aim, but before she could even get to her knees she heard Glenn calling for them. Tea turned just enough to be able to see over her shoulder only to see the guy who's ass got shot hobbling around with his hand on his ass and Glenn being taken hostage. The guy who's knee she'd kicked was holding onto him, using him as a human shield while backing out of the alley with the other guy limping behind him. A car came seemingly out of no where and stopped to let the men in. They dragged Glenn into the car with him before they sped away after drawing the attention of quite a few walkers.
"Get back here you sons a bitches!" Daryl roared as he tried to get to the car.
There was no way to go after it with the state of things in the street, so he had to shut the gate. Rounding on the teen Tea hadn't noticed before and shoving him harshly, he made like he was about to beat the boy into the ground. Rick and T-Dog were running up the alleyway towards them as he was about to throw a punch, causing Rick to once again get between him and his target. Tea was winded and still trying to will her body to get further than her knees, but her muscles were sore after being hit with the metal bats.
"Woah, woah, woah," Rick told Daryl with his hands out to separate him and the teen. "Stop it!"
"I'm gonna kick 'is nuts up in his throat!" Daryl said, continuing to fight. Not only had they taken the Korean kid, but they'd hurt Tea and he hadn't been able to do anything about it. He could see the cut above her eye bleeding and the bruises forming on her arms. "They took Glenn! They beat on Ania! This little bastard and his little bastard homie friends! I'm gonna stomp your ass!"
"Guys!" T-Dog yelled. "We're cut off!"
"Get to the lab," Rick said before going and picking up the bag of guns at the same time as Daryl went to Tea. "You alright?" he asked her.
"Nah worse for the wear," she said as she accepted Daryl's hand up.
"Come on, damn," Daryl said, pulling her against his side and helping her to run as her knees buckled. "Let's go!"
When they got back to the lab, Daryl wasted no time in assessing Tea's injuries. She tried to tell him not to fuss, but he was having none of it. He used the rag he kept in his back pocket to clean up the blood around her eye, making a comment about how she wouldn't need stitches. When he looked at her arms, though, he had half a mind to go back into the other room where Rick was talking to their guest and make good on his promises of kicking his ass. Her forearms were black and blue, and after a quick look over elsewhere, she had bruises forming on her ribs and shins as well. Not nearly as many or as bad as on her arms, but she was visibly covered in the forming bruises. How could he have let her get hurt like that? He blamed himself thinking that he should have been quicker in getting up. He couldn't help Merle and now he let his girl get hurt and that made him feel like a complete failure. He paced up a storm for a few minutes before turning and punching the wall opposite of her.
"Hey," she said as she wrapped her arms around him from the back. "I'm jus' bruised, D. I've always bruised easily so it looks way worse than it really is. I promise. Daryl, I'm fine."
"You're covered in bruises, Ania! That ain't fine!" he growled out angrily.
"Daryl, I've had far worse in me life," she said, turning him around and putting a hand on his cheek to make him look at her when he wouldn't meet her eyes. "I get it. I do. But there was nothin' ya could do in that moment otha than what ya did. Ya gave me an openin' ta fight back else it coulda been me taken. And that was a hell a an impressive shot considarin' ya were on the ground and did it with one hand. Glenn can survive a group a guys, who knows what they'd'a done ta me?"
Thinking about everything that could have happened to her if she had been taken, he couldn't help but sigh as he wrapped his arms around her. She had a point but that didn't make him feel any better about the situation as the guilt accumulated. He'd lost Glenn who'd been looking to him for help and now he almost felt happy it was the boy instead of his girl. Tea was the only thing he had left if they couldn't find Merle, and damn if the thought of losing her wasn't absolutely terrifying. He bent down enough to pick her up, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist and arms around his neck as he wrapped one arm tight around her middle, the other tight across her shoulders with his hand in her hair. He buried his face in it as she did the same to his neck, breathing each other in as he tried to calm his high-strung nerves. It was T-Dog that came out a few moments later to see them still like that. He just stared bewildered and surprised for a moment before clearing his throat to get their attention. Neither rushed to let the other go, but Daryl did put her down as they looked his way.
"Trying to figure out what happened, wanna lend a hand or are you too busy?" T-Dog said teasingly while pointing a thumb back towards the room.
"Shut it."
"Shut up."
T-Dog shook his head at the matching pink tinge on both their ears before he turned around. All three entered the room to see Rick standing over the teen and trying to talk to him. Tea found it commendable that he was trying to keep to the way he would speak to a witness during an interrogation, being respectful but firm. It didn't seem to be going anywhere, however, as the teen just sat looking unaffected by everything rather than like a prisoner of war. After a few more minutes of nothing, everyone began getting frustrated at the uncooperative youth. Tea was about to step into the situation before T-Dog turned to them and began to grill Daryl about the alley.
"Jesus man, what the hell happened back there?" T-Dog asked.
"I told you. This little turd and his douche bag friends came out of nowhere and jumped me," Daryl said as he paced back and forth.
"Man, you're the one who jumped me, puto," the teen replied. "Screaming how he was trying to find his brother like its my damn fault."
"They took Glenn. They coulda taken Merle to."
"Merle? What kind of hick name is that? I wouldn't even name my dog Merle."
"Wrong move," Tea said as Daryl tried to kick at the boy, his anger getting the best of him again.
Rick was able to get in between the two ensuring the kick never connected, even though the teen almost fell backwards in the seat he was tied to. Rick pushed Daryl away while telling him to back off in an attempt to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand. She knew that there was very little that was going to deter Daryl's anger right now and so thought of a way for him to at least get back at the teen. She walked up to him and whispered something the cop couldn't quite hear with a smile that seemed more devious than genuine. With a nod of his head, the redneck stomped over to Glenn's backpack and pulled out his brother's hand, holding it for a couple seconds before turning to the teen. Rick watched with his hands on his hips while T-Dog grimaced, Tea just watching the whole affair like it was just another day at the circus.
"Wanna see happened to the last guy who pissed me off?" he growled at the teen before dropping the severed hand onto his lap. When the teen righteously flipped out and fell off his chair, Tea lost it laughing as Daryl grabbed him and said, "I'll start at the feet this time."
Apparently, that was taking it a little too far as Rick walked over and once again dragged the man away from the teen. "The men who went and took our friend. All we wanna do is talk to them. See if we can't work something out."
Tea could see it in the teens eyes as soon as she had walked into the room. There was no way the boy was going to be able to withstand the pressure these men were putting on him. Especially not with the natural good cop/bad cop routine Rick and Daryl seemed to be pulling. T-Dog was looking at her like she was some kind of alien as she tried to stifle her laughter. She couldn't help that she had inappropriate reactions to some things, especially the macabre and reactions to practical jokes. Tea blamed it on watching some of the shows she enjoyed as a teen that were basically just people hurting themselves for others to laugh. All she could do as her laughter died down was shrug her shoulders at him before heading over to Daryl and putting her hand on his back
"Look," she said she squatted so that she was looking up at the boy still in the chair. "Truth is, ya only choice is ta give us the information we want. Othawise, ya won' be goin' home. See, they've got one a ours, we got one a theirs. It's easia for us ta go ta them than them ta come ta us, 'specially when this is jus' a temporary spot. So, what'd'ya say we get ya home? Aye? Take us ta ya leada," she quipped, knowing every kid his age would get the reference if not everyone in the room.
The boy snickered at that, "Fine. Just promise me I'll keep my feet."
"I don' know if I can do that. Be on ya best behavia, and maybe ya'll be fine. But be fair warned, he's not the one ta look out for in this group," she said, pointing to Daryl and giving her most evil look at the boy while smiling widely. "I am."
If the teen thought she was joking when she started, he quickly changed his opinion when he saw her face, all color draining from him as Daryl laughed and pulled her back against his chest. "That's my girl," he said quietly into her hair.
Rick and T-Dog just looked at each other before looking at the teen who looked like he was about to piss himself. After a moment, they understood that that was exactly what the duo had been going for. They wanted the boy to be scared so that he wouldn't act out while they were going wherever they needed to. The four of them gathered the gun bag and their equipment before Daryl grabbed the teen by the elbow and roughly dragged him out of the room past Tea. While she wanted to comment on the rough treatment he was giving the young man, she couldn't really say anything because if their positions were reversed she knew she would be acting the same damn way. It didn't take long before they were standing outside a brick wall with Rick handing T-Dog a rifle after making sure he knew how to use it. Tea was looking around her at the buildings with her brow furrowed.
"This place seems familia," Tea muttered to Daryl who just shrugged.
"Are you sure you're up for this?" Rick asked T-Dog, handing the man one of the nicer rifles with a scope. He just nodded his head and walked off.
"One wrong move," Daryl said to the teen. "You get an arrow up the ass, just so you know."
"G's gonna take that arrow out of my ass, and shove it up yours. Just so you know."
"G?" Rick asked.
"Guillermo. He the man here."
"Wait, Guillermo? As in Atlanta Nursing Home janitor Guillermo?"
"You know him?" Rick asked as the boy looked up at her in shock.
"I might," she admitted. "If this is where I think it is, then yeah, I know Guillermo, and 'e knows me."
"Okay then," Rick said with a nod, loading his rifle. "Let's go see Guillermo."
They entered through the window one by one, Daryl going through first and covering Rick, Tea, and the boy as they climbed through. Tea insisted that she keep hold of the boy, putting her buck knife right up against his back as soon as she got behind him. She told him not to say a damn word about her being behind him or she would make sure he died before his people could do anything to stop her from killing him. Neither of the men were happy about the situation Tea had volunteered for, but hearing her threat and seeing how she held onto and controlled the boy as they moved forward forced them to have confidence in her. Daryl and Rick were both holding their weapons high and looking around as they got closer to a garage door that opened when they got within twenty feet of it.
"You okay little man?" she heard the familiar voice ask the teen.
"Dude threatened to cut off my feet, carnal."
"Cops do that?
"Not him, man. This redneck puto. Cut off some dude's hand. He showed it to me."
"Man, shut up!" Daryl told him.
"Hey, Guillermo, long time no see," Tea said, stepping out to the side and lowering her knife. "I thought I recognized the area. Rememba me?"
"Ms. Parker? What are you doing with these yahoos?" he said in surprise. "Why don't you come stay with us? Old ones will be happy to see you."
"Ain't goin' no where with you," Daryl growled out, taking a step forward and aiming his crossbow as Tea turned to look at him, smiling and shaking her head.
"What?" Guillermo looked between the two and smirked, "Don't tell me you got a thing for redneck?"
"More like huntas," she said with a million dollar grin in Daryl's direction.
"Hey, hey! That's that vato right there! The one that shot me in the ass!" another man called out before hobbling out of the garage still holding a rag to his butt.
"And ya were beatin' on me, so he had every right ta, Philipe. Didn' recognize ya in the alley any more'n ya recognized me, but that don' mean ya didn' have it comin'," Tea said, bringing his attention to her.
"Titania?"
"Ms. Parker! Only the old ones have the privilege a callin' me that!" she spat as the teen snickered, which earned him a smack on the back of the head and a shut it from Daryl as he stepped over.
"Wait, back up," Guillermo said. "You were the one that kicked Jorje's knee?"
"Yup," she popped the 'p'. "I was too busy protectin' myself and tryin' ta protect Glenn ta see who was beatin' me. Might not a been worried once I recognized ya, but damn if I was gonna go down without a fight. Ya shoulda expected that from any woman, 'specially nowadays. So how's about a little friendly chat and see if we can' sweep it all unda the rug, so ta speak?"
"We need those guns."
"They ain' ya's, though, so ya'll have ta ask the owna. And even if they weren' Rick's in the first place, the expression 'first come, first served' works perfectly fine here. We got ta the bag first, they're ours. So ya don' get ta negotiate on that. Jus' be thankful we're not wantin' anythin' from ya except our man back, and maybe let me check in on the old ones one last time?" she said.
"What? You want lunch too?" the man who must have been Jorje asked.
"Nah. We have our own supplies and I brought enough food for me and my guys. Don' worry," she answered flatly, as if the question hadn't been rude, Rick and Guillermo both smiling and shaking their heads at her. "We ain' takin' nothin' out a here that ain' ours. So give us back our Asian and let me see the old ones ta give 'em some peace, maybe sing ta 'em for a while. We all know they ain' gettin' out a here. They were in a nursin' home ta begin with, they ain' goin' ta make it in the world as it is now and ya know it."
Both Guillermo and Philipe told the man to drop it, explaining who she was and how she had helped several of the old folks in the home. Not only had she dealt with a case involving the mistreatment of elderly patients for several of them, but she was also a volunteer and came to sit with some of them on the weekend. She paid special attention to the ones who didn't have much family visiting them and would sometimes be there for them when they were in their last moments when no one but staff was there for them. Sometimes she'd sit in the commons area and read or sing to whoever wanted to listen in the evenings, even though she worked, taught, and studied. They spoke more of her deeds as they waited for T-Dog to make his way to the group, like how she'd helped Guillermo's little brother get out of trouble with the cops when he was caught with the wrong crowd and how she'd actively fight for the rights of the elderly including getting them in touch with lawyers who would help them either pro bono or with a small fee that she would pay herself. Guillermo explained how the vatos came in and how many of the staff left the old ones to die as they walked through the halls. All of the men noticed as a few of the elderly people called out to the girl, who went in with soft smiles to grasp the hand of everyone who called out to her. Guillermo told them with a soft laugh and a shake of his head that even though the world had gone to hell, she was the same as ever. While the ones who were strong normally took from the weak, Tea was a very strong woman who took the weak under her wing. He never understood it, but he was grateful for all the help she'd given to the old ones throughout the years.
As Tea went around to check on the people she wanted to, Rick dropped the gun bag from his shoulder and took some out, handing them to Guillermo as he did. Daryl scoffed and turned towards where Tea was going around in the common area and greeting many of the people there. One of the men was crying as he hung onto her, thankful she was still alive while she kissed the top of his head and told him she was indestructible with a chuckle before going over to an elderly woman she simply called Nana and clasping her hands. A few of the elderly asked her to sing for them before she left, a request she was happy to oblige. Tea sat in the common room with a guitar for about an hour singing songs from church hymns to something Glenn said was Irish rock. Her voice was confidant and powerful, easily being heard throughout the entire room and then some and drawing the attention of everyone that could hear it. Daryl had heard her singing back at the quarry and had even requested a couple rock songs she knew he was still pleasantly surprised by her talent and the way she could change her tone and accent to fit any song.
It didn't take long after she finished singing for the five of them to make their way back to the box van they'd brought into the city. When he had heard how Guillermo talked about Tea and then saw how she acted with the old folks, it was plain as day to Rick that she wasn't a threat. Nothing he'd been told about her from Lori and Shane seemed to be true and only the rare good comments about her from the camp seemed to pan out. Apparently, top of being insanely smart, she was very generous and caring to the people around her. The minute they'd stepped into the nursing home, several of the elderly folks had started singing her praises as soon as she moved on to the next person and someone in their group walked over. She clearly knew what she was doing and had full control of her senses, unlike Shane had been adamant about. Apparently she had worked closely with higher authorities all the time in her field of profession and had no problems listening to their directions, only Lori and Shane's for some reason. He didn't know what the little woman had done to anger his friend and wife to the point of them giving her such harsh judgements and criticisms, but he couldn't see her picking fights for no reason like they said she did. They began walking to the overpass side by side, all carrying rifles on top of their other weapons. At first it was quiet, but then T-Dog spoke to Tea.
"So, Titania Parker, eh?" he said teasingly.
"Yeah, what of it?" she replied hotly.
"Why don't you use it? Sounds like a nice name," Rick said.
"Ya missed the part where I told the camp how I graduated high school at thirteen. My name starts with 'tit'. Hell, Miguelito laughed when he heard it. Why do ya think I got used ta not usin' it?" she responded just as heated as her first response.
"I guess that would make things a little complicated for a little girl," he said thoughtfully, realizing that this was truly a topic of great pain for her.
"Yeah, it did. So when I started college, I jus' started usin' Tea 'cause I drank a lot a it at the time. Coffee puts me ta sleep thanks ta the ADHD, even if it helps me focus, so I drank a lot a tea ta get through my studies and stay awake. Perfect excuse for a name change."
"Admit it," Glenn cut in talking to talk to Rick and take the attention off Tea. "You only came back to Atlanta for the hat."
"Don't tell anyone," he joked back.
"You've given away half our guns and ammo," Daryl said angry.
"Not nearly half," Rick said in exasperation.
"So what? Old farts could die at any moment anyhow. Seriously, how much time you think they got?" he continued, earning a glare and a smack upside the head from Tea.
It hadn't been hard, but had made him look back at her only to see her frowning and giving him a hard look. It was then that he remembered how much time she'd spent with those people. To hear him say such a thing had to have hurt her since she didn't want to think about the people she cared for dying. He looked down before grabbing her hand and squeezing it as a silent apology. She squeezed his back before they dropped their hands back to their own sides.
They walked a couple steps forward before Rick answered him, "How long do any of us?"
"Oh my god," Glenn said as they all came to a stop. Where they had left the cube vehicle was now an empty space.
"Where's our van?" Daryl said.
"Who the hell would take it?" Glenn asked.
"Merle," Rick and Tea said at the same time.
Daryl looked down at her and realized they were likely right, "He's goin' to be takin' some vengeance back to camp."
"We got ta go," Tea said, quickly moving forward in a slight jog.
The men followed in her wake though caught up to her quickly and got a little upset when she wouldn't quicken her pace. She explained that they needed to go at a steady, regulated pace if they wanted to go as far as they were going, keep their breathing calm so that they didn't overexert themselves in the heat, and that they would make it back to the quarry by night. No matter what, they would get to the quarry before the camp went to bed as long as they didn't set a pace too fast. They surprised her by be willing to go along with what she was telling them and taking minimal stops for rest and water. As she had promised, they managed to get to the road leading to the quarry by the time the sun was set on the horizon and the last vestiges of light it gave shown in the sky. Rick and Glenn were in the best condition even though Rick was carrying the bag of guns, Tea and Daryl following close behind them and T-Dog taking up the rear, still carrying Dale's tools. She had offered to trade off carrying the bag of guns or the tools, but had been politely declined. While Tea didn't know if it was because they honestly had everything under control or if they didn't think she could take on the weight and still run, but rather than dwelling on it she just focused on the task at hand and tried to keep her mind from the numerous scenarios that were resounding through her mind on what could have or might still happen regarding Merle. They nearly made it halfway up the road to the camp, Tea foolishly getting her hopes up that nothing would go wrong this time, before they heard the first round of gunfire and screams broke out through the trees.
"Oh my god," Rick said as the group paused in their steps momentarily. "Let's go, go!"
That's all it took for Tea to drop her bag to the ground and run at full sprint to the camp. She was the first to spring through the trees, her Glock drawn, as she fired at a walker that was coming out from behind Carol. After she'd taken two of at least three dozen walkers attacking their camp, the guys broke through the trees behind her with rifles drawn. It only took a couple minutes before all the walkers were gone, T-Dog obviously scared out of his mind, the children crying even as Rick and Morales hugged their children, while the rest of the camp stood in shock of what happened. Tea walked over closer to Daryl before she heard Andrea sobbing for Amy. The younger sibling was on the ground, bleeding from her neck and the arm Andrea had a hold of, clearly having been one of the first to die as she was the only one they had lost that had minimal wounds. The corpses composed of both the decomposing walkers and the members of the group that they had lost. Daryl looked at Tea's face and witnessed the warring emotions in her eyes. She was blaming herself again, he knew she was, because he'd seen that look on her face when she kept apologizing for Merle. The poor girl seemed to always take on the every burden upon herself as if she was the one to be blamed for anything bad that happened and didn't have a hand in any of the good. He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to him, letting him hold her, but did nothing but stand there and rest her head against his chest as he rubbed circles on her back. Her mind was replaying everything that she'd seen, going through multiple ways this tragedy could have been averted, how she could have helped make sure they only had minimal casualties instead of most of the camp. The resounding thought in her head was whether or not she would ever do anything right.