𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐒

𝟏𝐱𝟎𝟑

WE made it behind the truck everybody else was in. Glenn was whooping the whole way while I did the same out the window. We drove past them and I had a big smile on my face as I saw Rick in the drivers seat and Morales in the passengers seat. Even though the car alarm was still blaring out of control, the rush, the adrenaline, the excitement of getting away and not dying had been one of the greatest feelings.

We had started to make our way towards the camp. As we made it down the dirt rode toward the camp everyone had just been standing there awaiting us to stop driving and get out of the car. We got out of the car smiling at each other and looked at the rest of the group.

"Holy crap. Turn that damn thing off!" Dale exclaimed, referring to the blaring car alarm. "We have no idea how." I said while laughing. Then Shane and Amy came at us at the same time asking us two different things. "Pop the hood! Pop the damn hood!" Shane yelled over the car alarm. "Fine!" I yelled back. Before I leaned into the driver's seat to hit the button that pops the hood.

Glenn answered Amy's question regarding Andrea. Finally they got the car alarm to stop all the noise. "Yeah, Fine. Everybody is. Well Merle not so much." Glenn said. "Are y'all crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Y'all trying to draw every walker for miles?" Shane asked us in a parent scolding their kids kind of way. I rolled my eyes and ran my tongue over my teeth.

"I think we're okay." Dale said defending us. "You call being stupid okay?" Shane questioned. I  shook my head in annoyance. "Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source." Dale said optimistically. Then Shane gave him a look. "I'm not arguing. I'm just saying." Dale directed towards Shane.

"It wouldn't hurt you guys to think things through a little more carefully next time. Would it?" Dale directed towards Glenn and I. "I guess." I said. "Sorry." Glenn said. "We got a cool car." We said in unison before looking at each other and smiling.

Then Rick and the others started to approach us in the truck. Andrea got out of the car first and greeted Amy, while Amy ran towards her sister. I smiled at that, if that was Glenn I would be just as relieved. Then Morales reunited with his wife and kids. Then Jacqui and T-Dog got out. When the hell was Ranger Rick gonna get the hell out of the truck. Everyone was reuniting with each other and embracing one another.

"How'd y'all get out the of there anyway?" Shane questioned all of us. "New guy." My brother responded. "He got us out." I continued. "New guy?" Shane questioned. "Yeah, crazy vato just got into town." Morales chimed in. "Hey helicopter boy! Come say hello." Morales exclaimed. Glenn and I laughed at that. "It's Ranger Rick Morales." I corrected. "Yeah yeah helicopter boy is better." Morales responded.

Then Rick got out of the car with his hands on his hips. "The guys a cop like you." Morales said to Shane. Then Shane and Rick made eye contact and Shane had froze. "Oh my god." I heard Rick whisper as he made eye contact with Carl and Lori. Rick started to speed walk over to them then Carl started running with Lori on his tale. "Dad! Dad!" Carl exclaimed.

Holy shit, plot twist, am I right? They both started crying while hugging each other. Rick picked up Carl while walking over to Lori who had a shocked expression on her face. I don't think Ranger Rick knows his wife is screwing Shane, which like sucks but he'll find out eventually.

A Few Hours Later

We were all sitting by the fire outside with all of the crickets chirping around us. "Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion, all those things but disoriented comes closest." Rick announced. "Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short." Dale said.

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever." Rick continued. "Mom said you died." Carl stated while looking up at Rick. Lori looked like she didn't know what to say then Rick just gave a smile smile reassuring her. "She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it." Rick said while raking his fingers through Carl's hair. Lori and Shane exchanged looks that they thought no one was paying attention to.

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and if never happened." Lori said. "Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell." Rick stated understandingly. "Yeah." Lori said.

"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun." Rick said. "Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?" Shane questioned towards the end. Man Shane is full of shit, poor Ranger Rick. I might just be biased here though.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane." Rick said in gratitude. What? For him sleeping with your wife? Ara control yourself.

"I can't begin to express it." Rick continued. "There go those words falling short again. Paltry things." Dale said. "I thought they were meager Dale?" I asked jokingly. He bumped my shoulder while I smiled at him. Then we heard wood clattering. It was Ed, Carol's POS husband who doesn't deserve her or her daughter. He was throwing more wood into the fire which is a problem.

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Shane questioned. "It's cold man." Ed responded. "The cold don't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers, so we can't be seen from a distance, right?" Shane questioned again firmly. "I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once. " Ed responded. Here we go.

Shane got up from his seat and walked over to Ed. "Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?" Shane questioned as softly as possible. "Go on. Pull the damn thing out. Go on!" Ed exclaimed to Carol. Before she got up and pulled the burning wood out of the fire. I hate the way Ed treated Carol and Sophia. If he pulled that shit in front of me I'd chop his dick off. Carol's a sweet person and so is Sophia , it just sucks that Ed is her dumbass father.

"Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening." I heard Shane ask them. "Fine. We're just fine." Carol stated while nodding her head as if to reassure herself. "Okay." Shane said. "I'm sorry about the fire." Carol said. "No no no. No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?" Shane asked warmly. "Thank you." Carol said timidly. "I appreciate the cooperation." Shane said while looking at Ed and made his way back over to us.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind." Dale asked Shane. "I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me." T-Dog said. "I cuffed him. That makes it mine." Rick said I'm response to T-Dogs statement.

"Guys, it's not a competition, I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy." My brother said while looking at T-Dog. "I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him." T-Dog said. "It was accident." I said softly towards T-Dog. "We could lie." Amy suggested. "Or tell the truth. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed." Andrea responded. She's not wrong though, I mean the dude was wasting bullets and being an asshole.

"Your husband did what was necessary." Andrea said to Lori. "And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's." Andrea continued. Preach it to the choir. "And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?" Dale asked Andrea. "Word to the wise, we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt." Dale continued. He's not wrong I mean Daryl is pretty hotheaded. I know if that was my brother out there though, I'd be pissed too, so I'm not judging him.

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it." T-Dog admitted. "We we're all scared, we all ran. What's your point?" Andrea questioned. "I stopped long enough to chain that door. Stair case is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that. Not that chain, not that padlock." T-Dog responded. I admire T-Dog, he's an amazing person and deserves so much happiness and I hope he gets it.

"My point. Dixon's alive and he's still up there handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." T-Dog said before getting up and walking away. You could tell he felt really bad about it, he felt bad that he left the guy who beat him up and was racist to him on the roof.

We all went up to our separate tents to hit the hay. I walked into the tent and saw my brother already taking off his hat and his shoes to get into the sleeping bag. I ruffled his hair and kissed his forehead. "I love you, you know." I said to him. "I know you won't shut up about it." He responded playfully while smiling. "Oh your getting it!" I exclaimed before grabbing my pillow and hitting him with it. "Oh come on! I was joking meanie!" He exclaimed back before grabbing his pillow and hitting me back.

We had called a truce after I hit him one last time and actually made our ways to sleep. "Love you weirdo." I said softly. "Love you too man beater." He said with a smile. I shook my head at him then turned off the lamp as he turned off his.

Morning

Glenn and I were standing by the car we were in yesterday as they took it apart. Rick walked up beside us and looked at the car and back at us. "Look at em." My brother said. "Freaking animals." I said. "Vultures." Glenn continued. "Yeah go on strip it clean." Glenn said. "Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it. Sorry Glenn, Ara." Dale said before patting our shoulders. "Your not sorry." I pouted. Not them taking apart this precious car. "Thought I'd get to drive if at least a few more days." Glenn said. "It's just pure evil." I said.

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Rick said to us and patted our backs. "It won't be the same Ranger Rick and you know it!" I exclaimed when he was walking away. He looked back and smiled at me and shook his head. I looked back over at Glenn and said, "He knows I'm right."

"For sure." Glenn said. Then Shane approached in a black jeep with water in the back of it. "Waters here y'all. Just a reminder to boil before use." He announced before getting out of the car. Glenn and I made our way to the back of the jeep and took some jugs out. Then we heard screaming from Carl. A bunch of us ran over to see what was going on. Shane, Rick, Glenn, Morales, and I ran off with our weapons in another direction to see where the walker was. We saw a walker feeding on a deer and it was gross as shit. I got my jingum out of its scabbard and held it in my hand firmly ready to attack. I heard Andrea and Amy gasping at the sight behind us. We all circled around the walker then Rick hit it upside the head with the shotgun.

Then Shane, then my brother and the rest of them. They were taking too long so I grabbed my sword and jabbed it through the walkers brain. The rest of them just looked at me and I rolled eyes. Men. We were all breathing heavily. "It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain." Dale said to Shane. "Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." Jim said. Then all of us heard a branch snap and assumed it was walker so we all had our weapons up in defensive mode. Then we heard footsteps and out came Daryl with his crossbow in his hands. He looked at all of us with our weapons in our hands.

"Oh Jesus." Shane sighed. "Son of a bitch, that's my deer! Look at it all gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" He exclaimed while kicking the body of the dead walker. "Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale said to Daryl. Then Daryl walked up to Dale. "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'on golden pond?" Daryl said. Then he sighed and walked back over to the deer. "I've been tracking this deer for miles." He said as he pulled his arrows out of the deer. "Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" He questioned before looking back at us.

"I would not risk that." Shane commented. "That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel about a dozen or so. That'll have to do." He sighed while looking at everyone and made eye contact with me for a while. I raised my eyebrows and had a confused expression on my face at his eyes lingering on me until he looked away. Then he walked away from us towards the camp.

We followed him back to him. "Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew em up." He exclaimed before picking us the squirrels and making his way to the trailer. "Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." Shane said. Daryl turned around and stopped walking. "About what?" Daryl asked.

"About Merle." Shane responded. "There was- there was a problem in Atlanta." Shane continued. Daryl looked around at all of us around him then back at Shane. "He dead?" Daryl asked. "We're not sure." Shane said.

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl exclaimed. "No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick said while walking towards Daryl. "Who are you?" Daryl asked. "Rick Grimes." Rick responded. "Rick Grimes." He said mockingly. "You got something you want to tell me?" He continued. "Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." Rick said. Seriously Rick?! Why the hell would you come out with it like that?

"Hold on. Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" He shouted angrily at Rick. "Yeah." Rick said. Daryl threw the squirrels at Rick and came at him about to fight him until Shane came in and knocked him on the ground. Well ain't that some shit. (A/N Ara: I just sit back and observe.😭)

T-Dog dropped the wood in his hand on the ground and came over to where they were. Daryl grabbed his knife and got up and came at Rick again. "Watch the knife!" T-Dog exclaimed. Shane and Rick were able to get the knife out of his hand and hold him back. "Okay. Okay." Shane said. "You best let me go!" Daryl yelled.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane responded. "Choke holds illegal." Daryl grunted. "You can file a complaint. Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day." Shane said. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked calmly. When Daryl didn't respond back Rick asked again.

"Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked. "Hmm?" Shane hummed. "Mmm. Yeah." Daryl grunted before Shane release his hold on him. Daryl was panting and he pointed his finger at Shane. "What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick said.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it." T-Dog announced. "You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl questioned. (A/N I'm sorry but this line is funny asf to me😭✋🏾)

"Well I dropped it in a drain." T-Dog stated. Daryl scoffed and groaned on the ground before getting up. He had some dirt in his hand and threw it at T-Dogs feet. "If it's supposed to make me feel better it don't." Daryl spat while glaring at T-Dog.

"Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof. So the geeks couldn't get at him, with a padlock." T-Dog said reassuringly. "It's gotta count for something." Rick said. "Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is, so I can go get him." He stated sadly. "He'll show you." Lori said.

"Isn't that right?" Lori asked Rick. "I'm going back." Rick said. Then Lori went back in the trailer.

A Few Moments Later 

I heard Shane arguing with Rick. "Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Shane asked. Well he did have a point. "Hey, choose your words more carefully." Daryl said to Shane. "No, I did. Douche bags what I meant. Merle Dixon. The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst." Shane argued.

"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." Rick retorted. "So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori asked.

Then Rick turned around and looked at my brother and I. I looked behind me to see if he was pointing at someone else then back at him. He still had a sheepish look on his face. "Oh you've got to be joking!" I groaned. "Oh, come on." Glenn groaned beside me.

"You guys know the way. You've been there before..in and out, no problem. You guys said so yourselves. It's not fair of me to ask...I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you guys coming." Rick said. " I know she would too." He continued while looking at Lori then back at us.

"That's just great. Now your gonna risk four men, huh?" Shane asked. I cleared my throat at him, then Shane looked over at me. "Woman. Three men and one woman." I stated. "My apologies." Shane sighed.

"Five." T-Dog said. "My day just gets better and better, don't it?" Daryl huffed. "You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brothers cracker ass?" T-Dog asked. Seriously though I didn't even wanna go but he volunteered me, the shit I go through, Glenn and I.

"Why you?" Daryl asked. "You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language." T-Dog replied. "That's five." Dale said.

"It's not just five. Your 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." Shane ranted. "It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Rick said.

"Oh yeah." I said. "Right, the guns." Glenn said in realization. The guns that he left near the tank. "Wait. What guns?" Shane asked us. "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 said.

"Ammo?" Shane asked. "700 rounds, assorted." Rick stated. "You went through hell to find us. You just got here and your gonna turn around and leave?" Lori asked Rick. "Dad, I don't want you to go." Carl said. Yeah Rick don't go maybe then I won't be dragged along because your not going.

"To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in. Tell me. Make me understand." Lori said to Rick frustratedly. Wow they need a marriage counselor. "I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy. 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." Rick said.

"What's stopping you?" Lori questioned. "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 said. "These are our walkies?" Shane asked. "Yeah." Rick replied. "So use the CB. What's wrong with that?" Andrea questioned. "The CB's fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap... Date back to the '70s, don't match any other bandwidth... Not even the scanners in our cars." Shane said. "I need that bag." He said to Lori before bending down to Carl. "Okay?" Rick asked.

"All right." Carl said softly while nodding his head.

Glenn sat in the drivers seat of the truck the group had taken yesterday. I sat in the passengers seat next to him as he backed out the truck. Daryl was standing in the back doing whatever it is Daryl does. Then he started getting impatient and honked the horn several times. "Come on, let's go!" Daryl yelled. Rick came up to side of my window and I got out of the car and made it towards the back with Daryl and T-Dog.

I sat at one corner looking at my sword. I looked over the initials on the handle. Glenn and mine, G.R, A.R. Everytime I look at the sword I think of my mom, it was hers and I'm glad I took it out of the house that day. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard Daryl. "He'd better be okay. It's my only word on the matter." Daryl said.

"I told you the geeks can't get at him. The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us." T-Dog said. "Thank god were here." I said before I let up the latch on the door to get out first. We all jogged along the railroad tracks.

We had cut through the fence and Glenn opened it for me to go through first and then the rest of them. "Merle first or guns?" Rick asked us. "Merle! We ain't even having this conversation." Daryl argued. "We are. You guys know the geography. It's your call." Rick said to Glenn and I. "We gotta get Merle first then ten guns." I said. We all started jogging towards the building.

We made our way back inside the dreadful store. We saw a walker in the corner coming near us but she didn't see us. Daryl came up slowly out of sight with his crossbow held up. "Damn. You are one ugly skank." He said before shooting her in the brain. He walked over to her and pulled the arrow out and wiped the blood on his pants.

We all then ran up the stairs that led to the roof. T-Dog used the bolt cutters to cut of the lock on the chains. Daryl kicked the door open and ran out first, then T-Dog along with him. Glenn, Rick, and I followed behind them. "Merle! Merle!" Daryl shouted as he made his way out to the roof.

Holy shit. "No! No!." Daryl shouted angrily as he saw Merle's hand that had been cut off by one of Dale's tools. "No! No!" Daryl cried out. I felt really bad for him, and I would hug him if he seemed like the hugging type of person. Now where the hell was his brother is the real question.

And that's it. This chapter was about 4,166 words, I think just about all of the chapters will be about 4 to 5k words long considering the length of each episode. But we met Daryl this chapter and I guess you could say him and Ara are a slow burn. I'm excited for this two, and what's to come. I'm really scared to right the death scenes though because TWD love killing off people 😐😐. It's not very nice of AMC or Robert Kirkman but it is what it is. Anyway, vote, comment do whatever I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I love you guys 3000.
-brayla❤️❤️