"Tombs are the clothes of the dead and a grave is a plain suite; while an expensive monument is one with embroidery."
- R. Buckminster Fuller
Daryl was surveying the woods as Merle did his business in a nearby tree. His crossbow was aimed at eye-level as he moved it around.
Lowering his crossbow, he called out to Merle, "Ain't nothing out here but mosquitos and ants." he grumbled, antsy about the stillness of the forest. He wasn't used to being small anymore, not used to not having others to back you up. Merle scoffed, "Patience, li'l brother." he looked back at him slightly.
----
Michonne looked up at Aliya in the watchtower as they both watched Rick converse with the wind. Both of them opted to stay outside of the building itself but with different reasons. Aliya sighed as she watched Rick through her scope, feeling sorry for him.
With an exchange of nod between the two outsiders, Aliya climbed down of the watchtower and made her way into the prison. She was greeted by Carol with a polite smile which she returned timidly.
Aliya weaved through the others and headed straight to Hershel. Noticing that she was waiting to talk to him, Hershel looked up from his chore, "Anything I could do for you, Aliya?" he adjusted his crutches and pointed at her wounds, "Want me to check them out for you?" She politely shook her head, caressing her wounds lightly.
"I just wanted to ask if I could go out?"
She didn't notice that Maggie was just in earshot as Hershel asked her in shock, "You want to leave?" his eyebrows raised in shock. She immediately shook her head and waved her hands, "That's not what I meant!" her voice raised in panic. Maggie noticed this too and barged in the cell, "You're leavin'?" her eyes wide.
Aliya sighed and shook her head, "No." she shook her head at the father-and-daughter once more. Sitting down on the bed bunk, she started explaining, "I just have to check something." she whispered.
"There's this cabin that my friends used to live in." she stated with a smile, the fond memories of meeting Cecil and the others for the first time warmed her heart. "They might've escaped Camellia and went there." she looked at them with hopeful eyes, "Merle might've been wrong." she noticed the look the father and daughter exchanged but she ignored it.
"We all know how frequently wrong Merle is." she whispered more to herself than them.
Maggie inched closer to her, "When do we leave?" she put a supportive hand around Aliya's shoulder and squeezed her gently.
----
Merle shook the piss off of his hand and leaned his back against the tree, "More than nuthin'." he replied to him, grumbling. Daryl shook his head at his brother's stubbornness, "I'd have better luck going through that cabin we passed back at the turnoff." he grumbled back, looking back at the direction of the cabin they passed.
This ticked Merle off, "That what your new friend told ya?" his tone was harsh and mocking. Daryl glared at him at a distance, "Why don't we find a stream, try to look for fish?" he asked, choosing to ignore the jab his brother gave. Merle's eyebrow raised, "You trynna get me back on the road?" he spat, "Get me over that prison?" his lips curved into a disgusted frown.
Daryl sighed in frustration, "They got shelter," he appealed to him, "food," he listed, "a pot to piss in." he looked at the pool of piss at Merle's feet.
"Might not be a bad idea."
Merle growled, "Got that bitch that wanna kill me too." he shook his head at Daryl who just shook his head at him once again. Daryl ignored his comment which pushed Merle's buttons. He glared at Daryl, "For you, maybe." he spat out, remembering the hostility exchanged between them.
"They're all dead anyway."
----
Aliya pulled on the brakes and made her way down the truck with Maggie in tow. She looked back at Maggie, "Might be a good idea that I come in alone first." she suggested, "They might think you're one of those assholes." she explained hoping that Maggie would understand.
She was reminded of how hostile Katy was, the first time they met. Maggie noticed her pausing in front of the door, "Hey!" she called out. Aliya looked at her and frowned.
"Just call out for me, okay?"
Aliya nodded at her with a polite smile before knocking on the door to warn whoever was inside and to check for walkers. The cabin was eerily silent and empty, it would've bothered her if it wasn't the end of the world. She knocked on the door again, "It's Aliya." she whispered, hoping that if it was one of her people in there, they would jump out and approach her.
Her gaze dropped on the familiar door and space. A scoff left her lips, "Seems like yesterday those bastards locked me up." she huffed a laugh, remembering Seb trying to feed her. She approached the door slowly, opening it with a creak.
A shadow in the room caught her eye, her gun inching upwards. With a thud, she fell on the floor with what she just saw. Her eyes went wide and her ears rang sharply, a shaky gasp audibly echoing in the whole cabin.
"No..."
The shadow started swinging back and forth, its flailing arms reaching out to her. The growls became more and more desperate as it swung back and forth. Aliya's eyes shook as she scurried away from it. Her eyes focused in on the writing on the wall, its letters hauntingly written in blood.
'I'm sorry, Elisha'
Maggie stopped in her tracks and looked at the cabin when a gunshot rang out, "Aliya!" she screamed in worry and was about to storm into the cabin when out comes Aliya with a grim expression on her face. Mouth agape, she watched Aliya close the cabin doors and without looking back, walk pass her.
"Let's go."
==+==
"What if one of them herds is passin' through?" Axel timidly uttered, uncomfortable as all eyes were on him. "Or settled?" his eyes dropped down on the floor. Carol sighed, "We can't handle that." she said lowly, looking at all of them.
Hershel wasn't too happy about Glenn's plan, "Take a car and make it quick." he elaborated, garnering the attention of Axel and Aliya. "I'll drive!" both of them exclaimed, making them look at each other and nod. But Glenn had something else in mind, "No. Stay here and help with the fortifications." he ordered Axel who immediately nodded in obedience.
Turning to Aliya, he instructed, "You stay here, you're good with guns." Aliya nodded, palming her gun. "Protect the prison." he emphasised, staring at her in her eyes. "Got it." she stated with conviction.
----
With his crossbow aimed at his brother's head, he barked orders at the strangers, "Go!" The strangers scurried into their car and hauled it out of there.
Merle glared daggers at Daryl's back, marching behind him, "The shit you doin', pointin' that shit on me?" he grumbled, a tinge of betrayal in his voice. He couldn't believe that his brother protected strangers instead of being on his side. "They were scared man." he calmly replied.
"Helping people outta the goodness of your heart?" he scoffed, "That what Sheriff Rick taught you?" he drawled out, Rick's name leaving a bitter taste in his tongue. Daryl has heard enough of his brother's complaining and stopped walking, turning towards him, "There was a baby!" he roared, glaring at him.
Merle squinted his eyes and scowled at him, "Would you have just left them for the biters, then?" he challenged, his eyes tearing up slightly at the realisation that his brother has changed and he hadn't got the clue how. Daryl too, realised that Merle frustration was deep-rooted, that he was angry about something deeper.
"Man, I went back for you!"
Daryl's heart was breaking, he was used to arguing with his big brother but this was something else. "You asked for it." he looked at his hand and back at his face. Merle's face became riddled with betrayal, "You know," he tried hard to find the words, "you know what's funny to me?" he smiled sarcastically, anger was slowly creeping up to his head.
"Bet you never told him we were planning on robbing that camp blind." he breathed out.
Daryl was quick to rebut, "Didn't happen." he shook his head, shame in his voice.
The brothers talked back and forth for a while. Their pent up feelings towards each other were pouring out, each learning more and more about each other and their time away.
Daryl's shirt being ripped out by Merle's grip was like a bandage being ripped out of the brothers' wounds. Merle was taken aback, the sight of his little brother's scarred back jabbed an ice pick on his heart. Daryl scurried to cover his back up, putting his backpack on and walking away, back where he belongs.
"Can't go with you." Merle sniffed, feeling desolate that his brother was walking away from him, "Tried to kill that black bitch. Damn near killed the Chinese kid. Messed with the other asian chick." his eyes blinked slowly as loneliness ate away at his heart. Daryl looked at him, "He's Korean." educating his brother.
Merle was trying with all his might to keep his voice steady and his tears at bay, "Whatever." he grounded out.
----
She was looking at Axel and Carol converse with each other, bumping each other's shoulders and smiling to themselves. Axel must've noticed her staring as he called out, "Hey Aliya!" with a wave. Carol looked at her too, just noticing her presence and smiled at her from afar. Aliya chuckled and waved back at the two, nodding at them teasingly.
Michonne was just on the other side of the field, positioned at the overturned bus that she now calls her home while Aliya stayed on the other overturned vehicle. She turned to the side to watch Rick and Hershel talk to each other, choosing to leave them be as she looked around.
Her eyes caught suspicious movement on the right, as her mouth moved before even thinking, "Duck!" her scream rang out the filed but was a millisecond too late as a bullet embedded its way onto Axel's head. She fired her gun a few times but a blanket of gunfire immediately rained on her. The noise was making her anxious, the heat of the bullets hitting the metal exterior of her makeshift brigade was making her wince.
A bullet grazed her on her left shoulder, making her groan in pain. "Rick!" she waved her hand in order to get his attention but to no avail. She looked around to look for the others but it seems to be that she was surrounded by the governor's men.
Suddenly, the bullets stopped.
Aliya's ear rang as she desperately looked around for what was to come.
A low rumbling can be heard from the distance as everybody looked at the bus approaching the prison field with immense speed. It ripped through the metal gates and almost sliced Michonne in half. Aliya watched as walkers after walkers spilled out onto the field, her arm repositioning itself so that her gun is now aiming at the walkers.
She focused on gunning down the original enemies that the governor so kindly delivered on their doorstep, momentarily disregarding her sides and back. A grimy hand swiped on her shoulder, making her turn around in a hurry. Due to the inconvenient length of her gun, she was pushed down to the ground by the burly walker.
Aliya could swear that she heard her name being called out from the distance but she was too pre-occupied using her gun to put some distance between the walker's face and hers. She groaned in pain as her bullet wound screamed at her in agony.
Grunting, she pushed the walker farther away with all her might when an arrow lodged itself on it's head. Her eyes widened in relief as the walker slumped its shoulders. "Thank you." she whispered as she pushed it off of her, accepting Daryl's outstretched hand.
He nodded, steadying her body. Crouching down to yank her fallen gun from the ground, "Come on!" he pushed it onto her arms as he ordered for her to follow him.
----
Rick was itching to fight, his hands eagerly clutching his gun. Aliya was watching from the balcony, her hand cradling her wound as she watched everybody pitch in their opinions. She was willing to fight, of course. But she was also ready to flee, lil' ass kicker coming into mind.
A set of footsteps made her look to her left, Daryl looking down as well. "We ain't scared of that prick." his voice was low and grainy as he took position next to Aliya. He nodded at her slightly, "How's your shoulder?" he pointed at her wound which she inched slightly to let him see.
"It's alright." she whispered as she looked at it herself. It was angrily red and swollen, blood was seeping through the gauze that was loosely covering it. Daryl watched her for a bit before looking back down to the others.
"Put him in another cell block."
Daryl shook his head, passing by Aliya's figure. "No, he has a point." he grumbly defended his brother. His brother might be a prick but Merle knows how the governor operates. Hell, he was a cog in that machine just a few hours ago.
Rick then turned his back on Hershel, his ears refusing to listen to everybody's cries. Aliya jerked in her position when Hershel suddenly jumped up, using his crutches to hoist himself up. "Get back here!" his booming voice rang true the whole prison.
His shout was so authoritative that it made Rick stop in his tracks. The whole prison fell silent as Hershel made his way to Rick. Everybody could tell that the father had been trying his hardest to be understanding and patient when it came to Rick's mourning process but he has had enough.
"Get your head clear and do something."
----
When the father-and-son duo came back from observing the field, Rick seemed to be snapped back in place. Informing everybody that there was no snipers to be seen and that Maggie will be on watch.
Daryl offered to get up on the guard tower and take out half of the walkers to give everybody a chance while Michonne suggested to use some of the cars to put the bus back in place.
Pitching in to the table, Aliya suggested, "I can use my knife and help take out those walkers." she looked at Maggie for support. Maggie nodded while her dad was quick to shut it down. "We'll burn through our bullets," he then pointed at her bleeding shoulder, "your shoulder ain't healed yet. Those walkers will take you out before you even get the chance to bring down one." he scolded.
They're low on food, low on water, and low on ammo. They were at their wit's end, their backs against a corner. Merle's presence wasn't helping anybody's case at this point. "Get used to it." he looked around all of them, "All y'all." he was exasperated having to defend his brother's life with his new-found family while they were in the middle of war.
Having enough, he climbed up to the balcony to cool off. Aliya followed his figure with her eyes, only looking back to the others when their eyes met.
"Don't underestimate his loyalty to his brother."
"Deliver Merle to the governor." Glenn suggested, "Give him his traitor." he shrugged his shoulder as if it was just the obvious thing to do. Aliya's forehead creased at the suggestion, "I don't think-" she was cut off by Glenn's immediate rebuttal.
"He let the governor touch you, force you to kill your boyfriend." he towered over her, making her feel little. Her pupils shook as she glared at him, "Are you that out of touch with reality?" he sneered at her. Aliya's fists tightened, "Go to hell." she grounded out as she bumped her shoulder against his, making her way into the tombs.
----
She didn't really blame Glenn for hating Merle's guts. Hell, she does too. But there was a bigger fish to fry and her feelings are insignificant compared to the task at hand.
Governor had to die. Tolerating Merle is one step towards that goal and she is all than willing to take it.
Her footsteps were like pebbles skipping on the water's surface. The pitter patter echoing all throughout the tombs. A sniff and gruff clearing of the throat piqued her interest as she looked back at the incoming person.
Daryl was walking towards her with his head hung low, "Hey." she called out lowly, letting him know that she was there. "Hey." his voice was grainy as always, slightly looking up at her to nod. Aliya stepped to the side in order to give him some space, facing him.
"You alright?"
Aliya sighed and nodded, "Yeah." she caressed her nape in awkwardness, "You?" she gestured towards him. His brows lifted up, "Yeah." he mimicked her answer. There was a pregnant pause before Aliya decided to break it, "I'm sorry I snapped back there." her voice was tiny, timid. An invocation that she has changed, regressed even.
Daryl found her apologising about reacting accordingly, ridiculous. Shaking his head at her while he fiddled with an arrow, "Nah." he said in comfort. She smiled tightly, knowing that in his short responses, his messages are loud and clear. He was thankful that she attempted to defend his idiotic brother. Even if he didn't deserve it.
Both of them understood each other.
On the other side of the prison, Hershel and Merle were in conversation. "He's gon' kill me first." he deadpanned, "then Michonne, then Aliya, then your girls." he listed off. Hershel listened to him intently, the two men in mutual dread. "Save Rick for last so he can watch his family and friends die ugly."
"That's who you're dealing with."