❝Keep me locked up in your broken mind. I keep searchin', never been able to find a light behind your dead eyes. Not anything at all.❞

- Seether

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CHAPTER SEVEN - WORDS AS WEAPONS

D E X T E R

"You're not doing this alone." Rick said to Glenn, who was sat on the floor and leaning against a cabinet next to T-Dog and Dexter. They were all gathered in a small office of the lab, discussing the plan on how to get the guns in least problematic way possible.

Daryl was perched on a desk, leaning on his knee with his crossbow in his right hand, resting on the floor. "Even I think it's a bad idea and I don't even like you much."

"It's a good idea, okay, if you just hear me out." Glenn protested.

"We should hear the kid out, he's had a few good ideas in the past." Dexter shrugged. Rick glanced at her, contemplating, before nodding a Glenn and then he crouched down next to him.

"If we go out there in a group, we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast. Look." The pizza boy explained, leaning over the self drawn map and moving a few pieces. "That's the tank, five blocks from where we are now. That's the bag of guns. Here's the alley I dragged you into when we first met. That's where Daryl, Dexter and I will go."

"Both of us?" The Bay Harbour Butcher raised a brow as she peeked at Daryl's reaction. He was narrowing his eyes slightly at Glenn, but it was barely noticeable to anyone other than herself who was extremely observant.

"Your machete and his crossbow are quieter than his gun." Glenn pointed out, motioning toward Rick. He then went back to the map, placing a gum packet down. "While Daryl and Dexter wait here in the alley, I run up the street, grab the bag."

"But you got us elsewhere?" Rick questioned, referring to T-Dog and himself.

"You and T-Dog, right." Glenn grabbed an eraser and put it down in another area of the map. "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 Dexter and Daryl. I'll go forward instead, all the way around to that alley where you guys are." Glenn told the people surrounding the table, "Whichever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me. Afterwards, we'll all meet back here."

"Hey, kid, what'd you do before all this?" Daryl questioned, seemingly interested.

"Delivered pizzas. Why?" Glenn stated and Dexter's upper lip curved up in amusement.

"I reckon they're impressed, pizza boy." She smirked, patting his shoulder before she straightened up and made her way to the door. They weren't following, so she turned around and said, "Are you coming or not? That bag won't be there forever."

They all left the building together and then separated into their assigned groups, going off in different directions. Glenn, Daryl and Dexter made it to the edge of the roof where a ladder was hanging over the edge.

No one wasted time in climbing down it, into the alleyway where Glenn would go off for the bag. Daryl and Dexter unsheathed their weapons, his crossbow and her trusty machete, as they prepared for their roles as the boy's backup. Glenn was jumping up and down nervously as he readied himself, both mentally and physically for running into the walker infested road.

"You got some balls for a Chinaman." Daryl said, aiming his crossbow into the street. It almost sounded like he was impressed by him. Almost.

"I'm Korean." Glenn corrected before gulping and running off for the bag.

"Whatever."

"Wow. Great job." Dexter voiced sarcastically, keeping her eyes on the street in front of them.

"Shut yer damn mouth and stay quiet." Daryl grumbled, moving to hide behind a garbage bin.

"Yes, sir!" She retorted with a mock salute, crouching next to him when she heard approaching footsteps from behind. As soon as they came close enough, Daryl jumped out from behind the bin, aiming his weapon at a young boy who jumped back in fright.

"Whoah, don't shoot me! What do you want?" The boy said quickly, clearly panicking. He was young, around eighteen or nineteen with a buzz cut and clearly spoke more than english, judging by his accent. Dexter walked out from hiding, joining Daryl's side to get a better look.

"I'm looking for my brother. He's hurt real bad. You seen him?" Daryl interrogated, his crossbow aiming directly at the boy's heart.

The boy was quick to start shouting for help, surely drawing walkers. "Ayúdame!"

Dexter acted quickly, rushing forward and pushing the blunt side of her machete against his throat, only enough for it to hurt and not draw blood. If the walkers hadn't heard him, the smell of his blood would most likely draw some attention. "Shut up!" She seethed through her teeth, adding more pressure.

"You're gonna bring the geeks down on us. Answer me. Answer me." Daryl demanded.

"Ayúdame!" The boy shouted, again and again until Dexter had enough, removing the blade from his throat and knocking him to the ground with the handle.

She leaned over him, covering his mouth with her hand to muffle his shouts. "Shut the fuck up or I'll slit your throat!"

Multiple running footsteps approached and before she could turn around and protect herself, she was kicked to the ground alongside Daryl and beaten, her machete flying out of her reach. Dexter covered her head with her arms, allowing the rest of her limbs to be hit by the metal bat. But hey, at lest she wouldn't get hit in the face.

Glenn ran into the alley, not realising what was going on, quickly trying to turn and run again when he saw two members of his group on the ground getting pummelled.

"That's it. That's the bag, vato. Take it! Take it!"

They grabbed Glenn and pushed him onto the floor as they hit him. Daryl and Dexter took this as an opportunity to get up and aim their weapons at them. Instead of her machete which was a few feet away, Dexter had retrieved a small knife from her shoe and threw it into one of the men's shoulders as Daryl shot the other one in the ass with an arrow. The one she stabbed quickly grabbed Glenn as a shield and backed into the street when car pulled up, skidding to a stop.

"Get off me! Get off me! Daryl! Dexter!" Glenn screamed as he was forced into the back of the car and then the sped off, taking Glen with them.

"Hey!" Dexter shouted, running up to the gate after picking up both her machete and throwing knife on the way.

"Come back here, you sumbitches!" Daryl demanded, quickly shutting the gate when geeks gathered right in front of the duo. He went after the boy that they had stopped, but was quickly intervened by Rick, who had came out of nowhere with T-Dog lagging behind him.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Stop it." Rick instructed, pushing Daryl back and off the boy.

"I'm gonna kick your nuts up in your throat!" Daryl taunted over Rick's shoulders to where the boy was against the wall with T-Dog making sure that he stayed there.

"Let me go!" The boy shouted at the top of his lungs. He soon shut up after Dexter put her knife against his throat again.

"Chill out." T-Dog advised, not relieving the pressure he had against the boy's chest in the slightest.

"They took Glenn. That little bastard and his little bastard homie friends." Daryl informed angrily, trying to get passed Rick.

"Hey, assholes, we're cut off!" Dexter told them, nodding at the horde of walkers against the fence.

"Get to the lab. Go." Rick commanded, picking up the back of guns by his feet and his sheriff hat after a moment of hesitance.

"Come on. Damn, let's go."

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"Those men you were with, we need to know where they went." Rick said to the boy as soon as they made it back inside the building and to temporary safety.

"I ain't telling you nothing." The boy replied, wiping his bloodied lip with his thumb.

"Jesus, man. What the hell happened back there?" T-Dog asked, looking at Daryl.

"I told you, this little turd and his douche bag friends came out of nowhere and jumped us." Daryl angrily fumed, pacing back and forth.

"You're the one who jumped me, puto," The boy retorted as he glared at Daryl, "screaming about trying to find his brother like it's my damn fault."

"They took Glenn. Could have taken Merle too." Daryl countered.

"They had a reason to take Glenn; the guns. What reason would they have to take Merle? The only thing he had to offer was his racism and half-assed military training." Dexter scoffed, rolling her eyes at the redneck.

"Merle? What kind of hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle."

Daryl's temper snapped and once again Rick held him back. "Damn it, Daryl. Back off."

The gears in Daryl's head were almost visibly turning as he dug into Glenn's backpack and retrieved the hand. "Want to see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?"

He threw Merle's hand onto the boy's lap, causing the boy to scream and fumble out of his chair. To be honest, Dexter found the situation a little humorous to watch as he panicked and scrambled across the floor in an attempt to get away from the severed limb.

Daryl then grabbed the boy's face, "Start with the feet this time."

Rick moved closer, pulling Daryl away as he replaced him. "The men you were with took our friend. All we want to do is talk to them, see if we can work something out."

"C'mon, kid." The only woman present sighed, "This would be a lot easier if you helped us out."

The boy stared her down for a few seconds before nodding in defeat.

❝MONSTERS DON'T GET TO LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER.❞