CHAPTER FOUR － BLOOD RUNS THICKER THAN WATER

The lion's den was a scary place, but it was even worse when you were being forced to shoot back at those you recognized, all because they didn't have the full story. And those who did, didn't care. Through the smoke filled sky, the group was met with immediate gunfire and yelling. Jared, Kate's own fiancé, was shooting towards her. She doubted he could see her, but that didn't matter. He knew there was a fifty-fifty chance of her being there. As far as she was concerned, their relationship was truly over, but she didn't know how to feel about it; she couldn't say glad, because she remembered a time where he was attentive and cared so deeply. But it seemed now like it was all a facade, a cover for the dark soul that laid deep inside him all along.

Oscar got shot quickly, directly in the chest as he tried to shield Kate from a bullet. He didn't scream, he didn't cry. He was gone as soon as he fell to the grass, another bullet to his brain by Maggie ensuring he stayed that way. That was when things truly got crazy.

Daryl grabbed onto Kate's arm, dragging her behind one of the trucks. Maggie, Glenn, and Rick were no where to be seen, and Michonne was yet to reappear. It was at least sixteen versus two, and now, Kate found herself with a sack over her head, arms ziptied behind her back not even a half hour past as she was being led somewhere.

The dark sack was illuminated by an amber light, several voices being heard on the outside－ Kate recognized where she was immediately.

The Screamer Pits.

She never went, save for the first or second time that Jared dragged her to watch. It was silly, just as insane as Michonne believes them to be. They weren't toys, they weren't a game. Teeth or no teeth.

The Governor began to call out loudly to the crowd, demanding silence from all who listened. "What can I say? Hasn't been a night like this since the walls were completed. And I thought we were past it－ past the days when we all sat, huddled, scared in front of the tv during the early days of the outbreak. The fear we all felt then, we felt it again tonight. I failed you."

A pause, and Kate shifted her weight onto her other foot.

"I promised to keep you safe. Hell, look at me." He continued. "You know, I...I should tell you that we'll be okay. That we're safe, that tomorrow, we'll bury our dead and endure, but I...I won't. Because I can't－ because I'm afraid."

She scoffed under each her breath, earning a nasty kick to the shim by whoever was.gripping her arm. By the sounds of it, she assumed him to be Martinez.

"That's right, I'm afraid. I'm afraid of terrorists who want what we have! Want to destroy us! And worse, because two of those terrorists, were two of our own."

Several people gasped, murmurs erupting in the crowd.

"Merle! The man I counted on, the man I trusted....he led them here!" The Governor cried. "He let them in!"

If you'd asked Kate a few weeks ago whether she'd believe it, had she been on the other side, of this bag, she would've. Merle wasn't the most pleasant man, and a man like Phillip was easy to believe when he promised you the world, promised to keep you safe. He was like the boy who cried wolf, but in this story, the town believed him, even though there was no wolf.

"It was you! You lied, betrayed us all!" The Governor snapped, the sound of metal clinking as though the weapon that took up Merle's missing arm was now being taken from him. "But it wasn't just you that betrayed this place..."

Suddenly, the sack was plucked right off her head, Martinez shoving her forwards.

"Kate Faucett," The Governor began, "A gardener, a part of our medical staff. Someone who we all believed couldn't hurt a fly. You tried to incite paranoia among our own－ tied up your own fiancé, and showed the other terrorists where to go. And that...that's just unforgivable."

"It's Rhee," She muttered.

Another body was led forth, struggling in the hold on two men, but as the sack was ripped from his own head, he froze, eyes widening upon making eye contact with Merle Dixon.

"This is one of our terrorists! Merle's own brother! What should we do with them, huh? What should we do?"

"Kill them!" Screamed voice after another, young and old－ people that Kate had spent the past eight months getting to know on a personal level, all of them demanding her demise for the crimes she'd committed. Utter hysteria as fingers pointed at her, spit flying through the air, pure hatred in their eyes.

Kate gulped down the acid in her stomach.

"Phillip, wait. He's my friend!" Yelled a curly haired blonde woman; Andrea, Michonne's buddy. "I know Daryl."

"It's not up to me anymore. The people have spoken." The Governor said with a dead look in the eye of his that wasn't wrapped up. "Merle, I asked you where your loyalties lie. You said here. Well, prove it. Prove it to us all. Brother against brother. Terrorist against terrorist. Winner goes free. A fight to the death. Same goes for Kate. You win, all is forgiven."

Her eyes trailed over to Jared in the crowd, watching as he immediately turned away, sheepishly crossing his arms as his eyes darted towards his shoes like they were the most important thing in the world. It was like he expected her to give up and die.

Merle stuck the metal arm of his in the air. "Yall know me! I'm gonna do whatever I got to do to prove－"

Kate's jaw dropped in horror as Merle shoved his younger brother to the growd, kicking him hard in the stomach. Daryl didn't fight back.

"－ that my loyalty is to this town!"

She backed up, arms raised, only to be shoved back forwards by two other people and straight into Merle, who decked her straight in the nose. Kate felt immediate whiplash, eyes watering and ears ringing upon impact. She barely even noticed Daryl get back up right after, clobbering Merle as the two fell back into the dirt.

Then she heard it, vision clearing as someone brought in a rott
er to the fight circle. This one....with its teeth still intact as it was held right above them.

Save your energy. Wait until one has killed the other, or until the walker does the job for them.

Kate regretted thinking that the second she did, remembering how Daryl just stopped Merle from hitting her again.

"Fight, Kate!" She recognized Karen's voice through all the others, perhaps the only one not demanding her pain and suffering. "Don't give up!"

Kate Rhee didn't consider herself a fighter, but as she sucked in a deep and heavy breath, she forced herself to be, immediately shoving the guy holding the walker back and jumping on Merle Dixon's back, wrapping her arm around his neck tightly in a choke hold.

Wheezing for breath, Daryl nodded at her, turning to his brother. "You really think this asshole's gonna let you go?"

"Just...follow...my lead." He choked out, tossing her off his back and onto the ground. "We're getting out of this. Right now."

He offered the girl a hand next, tugging her up as the three formed a triangle with their backs, arms raised as two more rotters joined the party. Her body ached terribly as the brunette laid one punch after another, trying to knock the rotter in front of her back without a weapon.

"Anyone got a bright idea?" Kate yelled out to the brothers, kicking back one of the dead. "Would definitely love a plan right now!"

BANG, BANG, BANG.

Screams filled the crowd, bodies scrambling away as gunshots filled the arena by someone they couldn't see. Even after nearly a year in the apocalypse, Kate never truly got used to the sound of gunfire. Her apartment in Atlanta before all this was in a considerably safe area, closer towards the edge of the city, and Woodbury tried to avoid using their guns amongst the walls whenever possible, so tonight was a stark change of pace as is.

More shots ensued from another gun, though these were closer, making Kate realize that the walls were left either unguarded or with a lackluster watch team due to the fight. Covering her head, she jumped as electric wiring started to sputter out sparks.

"Merle, Kate, come on." Daryl spoke lowly as gunfire smoke filled the arena, though this time, all three of them were actually glad to have their vision clouded as it meant the Governor's chances of shooting them down were particularly slim, given the newest loss of his eye.

Shoving one man, Daryl grabbed his crossbow that'd been previously taken from him, picking up the gun that'd fallen from the guy's pocket and handing it to Kate before directing them towards the front wall. With one hand, Merle yanked away a metal panel and climbed through, wacking a rotter over the head with his metal arm.

"A little help would be nice! We ain't got time for this!"

Kate turned to Maggie and Rick, heart dropping as she noticed the lack of a presence. "Where's－"

"Glenn and Michonne are at the car." Maggie answered either a quick nod, tugging on her arm. "Come on!"

They made it back to the road by dawn, but not everyone took kindly to Merle Dixon's presence as Glenn pulled out a gun and Michonne drew her sword, charging forwards to attack, only to be stopped as Rick raised his arms in front of them.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

"Put it down!"

'He tried to kill me!" Michonne cried out.

Glenn nodded along. "If it wasn't for him－"

"He helped us get out of there!" Daryl hissed.

"Yeah, right after he beat the shit out of you, Kate, and I－"

"Guys, just drop the guns!" Kate yelled, raising her arms defensively, eyeing her brother and Michonne until they did, which in term made Rick and Maggie follow suit.

"You get that thing outta my face!" Daryl pointed at Glenn, dropping his crossbow slightly.

Merle began to laugh maniacally, pausing as he now got the time to look at Daryl in proper daylight. "Wow. You've gone native, brother."

"No more than you hanging out with that psycho back there!"

"Oh, yeah, man. He's a charmer, I got to tell you that." He glanced at Michonne. "Been putting the wood to your girlfriend, Andrea, big time, baby."

Glenn gasped softly. "Wait, Andrea's in Woodbury?"

"Shes right next to the Governor," Kate said furrowing her eyebrows. "Practically ditched Michonne for him the second she arrived."

"We were told she got taken down by walkers," Daryl grunted.

Michonne squinted, readjusting her grip on her katana as she slowly turned to Merle. Kate could see the tear in her pants, the red stains in a big torn hole around her thigh, along with the stitches inside.

"I told you to drop it!" Rick snapped at her, noticing just as quick as Kate had. "You know Andrea?"

When she didn't answer, Merle hummed sickly. "Yup. Her and blondie spent all winter cuddling up in the forest. Mmhm, yeah, my Nubian queen here had two pet walkers. No arms, cut off the jaws, kept them in chains. Kind of ironic, now that I think of it."

"Shut up, bro." Daryl yelled exasperatedly.

He raised his arms defensively. "Hey, man, we snagged them out of the woods. Andrea as close to dying."

"Is that why she's with him." Maggie inquired.

"Snug as two little bugs. So what you gonna so now, sheriff, huh? Surrounded by a bunch of liars, thugs, and cowards－"

"Shut up!" Rick snapped.

"Ah, man, look at this. Pathetic. All these guns, and no bullets in them－"

"Merle, shut up!" Daryl yelled again.

"Shut up, yourself! Bunch of pussies, you roll of－"

Merle collapsed to the crowd at he found himself whacked over the head with the butt of Kate's gun, knocking him out cold. As she looked back up, she found five wide, but thankful, pairs of eyes.

"That's for punching me in the face earlier." She muttered, then turning to Michonne. "Where'd you go off to after we got seperated?"

"Had some unfinished business with the Governor." She explained shortly, coming over to give her a short side hug, the first physical affection that she'd ever offered her. "Got cut up real good, but you should've seen him."

"Shit, it was you who cut out his eye?"

"Stabbed it, actually. With glass. Dude was keeping walker heads inside fish tanks to study them."

Kate hummed, shrugging at it. "Good work."

Daryl cleared his throat, looking up from where his brother laid on the ground. "So who wants to help me load him into the car?"

Rick whoops his head solemnly, knowing where he was going with this. "It won't work. It'll stir things up."

"It's gotta. Look, the Governoe is probably on the way to the prison right now. Merle knows how he thinks ans we could use the muscle."

"I'm nit having him at the prison," Maggie stated firmly.

"Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block as Carol or Beth?" Glenn asked. "He already punched my sister apparently."

"He ain't a rapist," Daryl claimed.

"No, but he's definitely racist. Misogynistic too, honestly." Kate said. "You miss the part where he called Michonne his Nubian queen?"

"Exactly. Plus, his buddy's a rapist." Glenn nodded.

"They ain't buddies no more. Npt after last night－"

"Theres no way Merles gonna live there without putting everyone at each other's throats." Rick explained, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"What? So you're gonna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us?"

"She's not coming back."

"She's not in a state to be on her own," Maggie sighed.

"Well, if Michonne's not coming, then neither am I." Kate said sternly, crossing her arms.

"Katie－"

"No, Glenn." She raised a hand to him. "I'm not trying to make anyone choose, but Michonne offered me an out to Woodbury before and I said no because I was being loyal to a piece of shit. Keeping rotters on chains is weird, but that's not the same as torturing two people for a whole day."

Glenn turned to Rick pleadingly. "She did bring you guys to us."

"And then ditched us." He muttered.

At least let my dad stitch her up. No doubt they ripped apart last night," Maggie begged.

"She's too unpredictable." Rick glanced back towards the car, knowing that Michonne could hear him, though she didn't seem to really care much on the outside.

"He's right, we don't know her. But Merle－ Merles blood." Daryl agreed.

"No, he's your blood." Glenn snapped. "My blood, my family, is standing right here, and waiting for us back at the prison. And if it comes to picking between him and my sister, I'm choosing the one who didn't kidnap me while we were scavenging for baby supplies."

"You're part of that family, Daryl." Rick told him, "but he's not."

The dirty man locked his jaw, gulping down the hurt in his eyes. "Man, yall don't know....fine. We'll fend for ourselves."

"That's not what I'm saying." Glenn murmured.

"No him, no me."

"Daryl－"

"It was always Merle and I before this."

"You're serious? You're just gonna leave like that?"

"You'll do the same thing if Rick ends up not letting Michonne go back, because that means your sister won't come back with 'ya."

"What do you want us to tell Carol? You can't leave."

Daryl shook his head, walking back over to the dirtbag passed out with his face in the dirt. "Shell understand. Say bye to your pop for me, Maggie."

Rick stopped him by the arm. "Look, there's gotta be another way."

"Don't ask me to leave him. I already did that once."

"We started something last night. You realize that, right?"

"What can I say? No him, no me. I get it." He shrugged, opening up the trunk of the car to pull out a few items before slamming it shut. "Take care of yourself, and take care of little asskicker. Carl, he's one tough kid."

In the distance, Merle resurfaced from the ground, an ugly bruise forming on his balding head to match the older one on his nose. For a moment, he wore a nasty scowl, clearly from being knocked out, oh, so rudely. But as Daryl began to approach him, he smiled toothily, beckoning him over like a prize he'd won, rather than his own person.

Rick huffed, turning to Michonne as the men faded away into the trees. "We patch you up, and then you are gone."

The darker woman didn't respond, looking away as she climbed into the back seat of the car with Glenn, Maggie climbing up front into the passenger seat.

When it was just the two of them left out in the open, Kate paused, glaring at him as though any fear of men had left her body. Could Rick definitely put up a good fight, in every human way. But he wouldn't. Not here, and not right now. Because it's quickly turn into a three on one fight with one bystander trying to stop them.

"I don't abandon people." He repeated the words he'd told her a few hours earlier. "But I don't coddle them either."

Before she could respond, Rick turned on his heels, climbing into the front seat of the car silently.