Let's go get Merle, shall we? The start of it all. Disclaimer I don't own The Walking Dead just my ocs and plotlines.

Callie's PoV

She was sitting next to Daryl, waiting for the moment for Rick to arrive so that they could leave. They don't know that she'll be going with them. But she will. It's her fault in the first place all this happened, she let Merle go. It was on her.

"Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?" Shane says as he's passing Daryl.

Daryl glares at him. "Hey, choose your words, more carefully." Daryl warns.

"No, I did. Douchebag's what I meant. Merle Dixon." Shane hisses. "The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

Rick narrows his eyes at him. "What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst... me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

Callie is surprised by this. He saw what he was like and he's still going back for him.

Lori just stares at her husband. "So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?"

Rick turns to Glenn.

"Oh, come on." Glenn groans.

"You know the way. You've been there before... in and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask... I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." Rick points to Lori, who looks anything but comforted.

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?"

"Four." Callie steps up and they all look at her. "I'm coming too." She assures Daryl who nods respectively.

"Five." T-Dog announces and Daryl huffs in frustration.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?"

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog reminds him.

Daryl doesn't look up from his crossbow. "Why you?"

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

"That's five." Dale points out.

Shane bristles. "It's not just five. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."

"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Rick says to Shane who raises a brow.

Realisation dawns on Glenn. "Right, the guns."

"Wait. What guns?" Shane looks between them confused, but intrigued.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up." Rick persuades Shane.

"Ammo?"

Rick answers immediately. "700 rounds, assorted."

Those would protect camp a lot better than what we have already.

Lori steps towards Rick. "You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?"

"Dad, I don't want you to go." Carl begs.

"To hell with the guns." Lori spits. "Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in. Tell me. Make me understand."

Rick walks up to her. "I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy." Lori points to Carl. "Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him."

"What's stopping you?" Lori sighs.

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer." Rick explains.

"These are our walkers?" Shane asks.

Rick purses his lips. "Yeah."

"So use the CB. What's wrong with that?" Andrea suggests.

"The CB's fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap... date back to the 70's. Don't match any other bandwidth. Not even our scanners in our cars.

"I need that bag." Rick says and approaches Carl. "Okay?"

Carl nods yes.

"Alright." Lori sighs.

Callie looks at Daryl.

"I'm sorry."

"I don't need your pity." Daryl hisses.

Callie sighs. "It's not pity. It's just... you hearing all the bad words about your brother."

Daryl paces the truck as he watches on as Rick and T-Dog talk to Dale.

Glenn just got in the drivers side as Daryl uses his foot to honk the horn.

"Come on, let's go!"

Glenn throws his hands up.

"Hey!" A voice calls and Callie looks to see Jeremy by the entrance of the van. "Be safe."

Callie nods and smiles. "I will."

Jeremy walks away as Rick and Shane approach the van. They have a conversation which Callie doesn't listen to. Rick climbs in the truck and T-Dog closes the back, and they take off.

The group stays in silence until they reach the city's limits.

"He'd better be okay. It's my only word on the matter." Daryl threatens T-Dog.

"I told you the geeks can't get at him. The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us." T-Dog assures him.

Glenn stops the truck and turns to us. "We'll walk from here."

They all get out and walk along the railroad tracks, weapons ready.

Tabby's PoV

The group is at the bottom of the Quarry. Tabby, Andrea, Amy, Aubrey, Jacqui, and Carol are doing their laundry loads. While Shane and Carl are messing around.

"I'm beginning to question the division of labour here." Jacqui mutters and Tabby smirks.

"Agreed."

"Can someone explain to me how the women wound up doing all the Hattie McDaniel work?" Jacqui asks all the women.

"The world ended, didn't you get the memo?" Any retorts and Tabby snorts.

"Otherwise it wouldn't get done." Tabby points out and the women laugh.

Carol sighs. "It's just the way it is."

Callie's PoV

T-Dog cuts through the fence and they slip through.

"Merle first or guns?" Rick asks.

"Merle! We ain't even having this conversation."

"We are!" Rick snaps and looks at Glenn. "You know the geography. It's your call."

"Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first." Glenn answers.

"No matter what. We'll be getting Merle." Callie tells Daryl and he stays silent.

Tabby's PoV

Tabby scrubs at her top.

"I'd kill for a washing machine right now." Tabby murmurs and the women look at her. "And a dryer."

"I do miss my Maytag." Carol agrees.

Andrea moans. "I miss my Benz, my sat nav."

"I miss my coffeemaker with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey." Jacqui puts in and they smile.

"My computer. Texting." Amy says and Tabby agrees.

"What I could do with a fatty burger from Wendy's." Tabby moans and they all groans from the imaginary taste.

"I miss my vibrator." Andrea blurts out and everyone laughs.

"Oh."

Amy groans. "Oh my god."

It stays silent for a moment.

"Me too." Carol says and they all laugh.

Ed walks up to them. "What's so funny?"

"Just swapping war stories, Ed."

"Yeah." Amy backs her sister up.

Tabby notices Ed still there, which puts her on edge.

"Problem, Ed?" Andrea snaps at him, clearly fed up with his pestering.

"Nothing that concerns you. And you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club."

Tabby clenches her jaw.

They were still doing laundry, and Ed is still watching them.

Andrea stands up and walks over to him. "Ed, tell you what... you don't like how your laundry's done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here."

She tosses the shirt to him but he tosses it right back. Slapping onto her chest.

"Oh!" She exclaims and everyone gets up.

"Ain't my job, missy."

"Andrea, don't." Carol warns her, fear in her eyes.

"What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?"

Ed cocks his head. "Well, it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch. Tell you what... come on. Let's go." He orders Carol who looks like she's turning herself in.

"She's not going anywhere." Tabby says and he looks to her.

"I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed."

"And I say it's none of y'all's business. Come on, now. You heard me." Ed warns.

"Carol." Andrea murmurs and tries to stop her.

"Andrea, please." Carol begs her. "It doesn't matter."

"Hey. Don't think I won't knock you on your ass just 'cause you're some college educated cooze, alright? Now you come on now or you gonna regret it later."

"So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed? Yeah, we've seen them." Jacqui says disgusted at the man.

Ed just laughs.

"Stay out of this. Now come on! You know what? This ain't none of y'all's business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking. Come on." Ed grabs Carol.

"No. No." Andrea snaps.

"Carol, you don't-

"Carol-

Ed rounds on the woman. "You don't tell me what! I tell you what!" He slaps Tabby, which causes her to stumble back into the girls. "You think you can-

"Fuck off!" Amy curses hitting at his arm, trying to prevent him from grabbing onto Carol again, and away from Tabby who was on the floor.

Shane comes and grabs Ed and drags him away.

"Get off me! Get off me!"

"Ed?" Carol squeaks.

Shane throws him onto the ground.

"It's okay." Amy tries to soothe the woman but she wasn't having it.

"Are you okay?" Jacqui asks and helps Tabby up.

She nods, her hands shaking from fear and shock. "Yeah."

Shane starts throwing punch after punch at Ed. Beating him to a pulp.

"Shane! That's enough!" Tabby yells, even though the man slapped her, she didn't want Shane to have blood on his hands, even though Ed deserved it.

"Shane, stop! Just stop!"

Carol sobs. "Stop it! Stop!"

"You out your hands on your wife, your little girl or anybody else in the camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!" Shane roars. Tabby couldn't hear what's next but Shane punched Ed again.

"Oh god! No. God!" Carol bursts into tears and drops on her knees next to Ed. "I'm sorry." Just babbling on about how sorry she was.

Callie's PoV

"In here." Glenn whispers and we all walk into the departmentstore.

"Damn. You are one ugly skank." Daryl mutters before raising his crossbow and shoots it through the head. He pulls the arrow out.

They all make it to the roof, by running up the stairwell. At least there weren't any geeks up here, making it easier for them to get to Merle.

T-Dog once again cuts through the padlock, and Daryl busts through the door.

"Merle! Merle!"

"Merle!" Callie calls and follows after Daryl.

"No! No!" Daryl sobs and Callie looks at where he is looking at, seeing the saw on the ground and a hand, lying on the ground. "No!" Daryl sobs again.

Callie knew at that moment, that those cries of Daryl will be imprinted in her brain.

"No!"

A good way to end it! I'm trying to write as many chapters as I can! To make up for loss time. Please leave a like and let me know what you think.