Night surrounds us as we reach the gates of the town and we keep low, hiding behind a car as we take in the sight before us. Up on the wall is a couple of guards keeping watch, some hush powered guns in their hands. We remain quiet and watch them for a long time, scoping out the situation. I hear a movement behind me and I turn to see Michonne walking away.
"Hey. Hey!" Rick whisper yells.
She keeps going and Rick steps back and takes the three of us in, "Alright we need to downsize." Rick says.
I take off my big gun and hand it to Oscar and he begins to pull out the smaller ones.
"There ain't no way they're checking all them buildings. They're lone guards there." Daryl states as he slings his gun over his back and replaces it with his crossbow.
Suddenly a twig snaps behind us and we all turn, our guns aimed at the bush. Michonne walks out and points us in an opposite direction, "This way." She mouths, walking off again.
I turn to Rick and he nods his head and soon enough we follow after her. We sneak our way around the perimeter until we reach a building. Michonne opens up the door and we sneak out way inside, being as quiet as possible. I keep my gun tightly in my hand, keeping an eye out for any threat.
"This is where you were held?" Rick asks Michonne.
"Questioned." She corrects.
Daryl walks past me and goes to look out the window as Rick asks her a question, "Do you know anywhere else they could be?"
She remains quiet as Rick walks forward and looks through the window. Daryl looks back at her, "I thought you said there was a curfew?"
"The street is packed during the day. Those are stragglers." She states.
Rick looks back at us, "If anyone comes in here we're sitting ducks, we gotta move."
"They could be in his apartment." Michonne says after a moment and we all look over to her.
"Yeah? What if they ain't?" Daryl asks, walking over to her.
"Then we'll look somewhere else." She sneers.
"You said you could help us." Rick says, getting frustrated.
"I am doing what I can." She defends herself.
"Then where the hell are they?" Oscar demands.
She clenches her jaw and Rick nods his head for us to come and talk to him away from her. I follow after the men and Rick turns to us, "If this goes south, we're cutting her loose."
"You think she's leading us into a trap?" Oscar asks.
"Right now it's the blind leading the blind." Daryl murmurs, "We'll split up."
Suddenly there is a knock at the door, my heart stopping at the sound. We all turn and look towards the door for a split second before running and hiding. I crouch down behind a corner with Daryl in front of me. He grips his crossbow and gestures for me to be quiet as the door opens and a voice calls out, "I know you're in here. I saw you moving from outside."
I hear the man walk further into the room as he continues to talk, "Alright now. You're not supposed to be in here, you know it. Who's in here?!" He demands when no one answers him.
Rick rushes forward and pins him against the wall with his gun aimed at his head, the rest of us doing the same, "Shut up and get on your knees!" Rick demands, moving back and letting him fall to the ground.
He kneels down in front of the man, "Hands behind your back, zip tie him."
Daryl begins to follow Rick's instructions as Rick looks the man in the eye, "Where are our people?"
"I don't know." The man says scared and bewildered.
"You are holding some of our people. Where the hell are they?!" Rick demands.
"I don't know." The man says again.
Rick looks at him for a moment before speaking, "Open your mouth."
He quickly shoves a cloth into the man's mouth and gags him and Daryl quickly knocks him out. Oscar grabs him and begins to drag him backwards and hide him away. As we straighten back up and go towards the door we hear the sound of a machine gun go off further in the town, soon followed by yelling. Rick opens the door and glances out before we follow after him, him leading the way through the town.
We follow him and soon we reach a building and we make our way through, keeping an eye out for threats and any sign of Glenn and Maggie. We go down a long hallway when Rick suddenly presses against a wall, the rest of us following suit. He waits for a moment before we sneak out way and follow after him.
We hear muffled voices from the other side of the wall before they become clearer, "On your feet! Move!" A man demands.
Rick and Daryl quickly pull out a couple of smoke grenades and they toss them as we quickly rush away. They go off and we hear the sound of groaning. We quickly rush back in and keep an eye out, Daryl and Rick rushing forward to grab Glenn and Maggie. Someone fires their gun and Daryl shoots back before we make our way back the way we came.
Maggie looks at me with wide eyes, "Bree?" She says in disbelief and Glenn looks at me the same.
Like the others, they must have believed that I was dead. I quickly hug her before we wake our way back the way we came. I hold my gun tightly as we get out of the building and make our way through the town into a random storefront, quickly rushing in and closing the door behind us. Daryl rushes forward into the store and I stand beside Oscar and keep an eye out through the gaps in the blankets covering the front window.
"There ain't no way out back here." Daryl states, coming back into the room.
"Rick, how did you find us?" Maggie asks, turning to face him.
"How bad are you hurt?" He asks, looking over at Glenn.
"We'll be alright." He states in pain.
"Where's that woman?" Maggie asks and I turn to see Michonne missing.
"She was right behind us." Rick says, looking through the gap of the blanket.
"Maybe she was spotted?" Oscar suggests.
"Do we go look for her?" Daryl asks.
"No, we got to get them out of here." Rick says, pointing at Maggie and Glenn, "She's on her own."
"Daryl... Bree... This was Merle." Glenn states.
The both of us freeze and look towards him as Maggie dresses him in a jumper, "It was, he did this."
"You saw him?" Rick asks.
"Face to face. He threw a walker at me, he was gonna execute us." Glenn explains.
"So... So my brother's this governor?" Daryl asks, stepping forward.
"No, he's somebody else. Your brother's his lieutenant or something." Maggie clarifies.
"Does he know we're still with you?" I ask, stepping forward beside Daryl as my heart pounds at the news of Merle being here.
"He does now. Rick I'm sorry we told him where the prison was, we couldn't hold out." Glenn says guilty.
Rick walks forward and gives his knee a reassuring squeeze, "No, no need to apologise."
Rick quickly rushes over to the window and I look over at Daryl, his face conveying the same emotion as me. We both just accepted the fact that Merle was gone and that we would never see him again. But now, knowing that he's here... I don't know whether to jump for joy or be scared as hell.
"They're gonna be looking for us." Maggie states, bringing my attention back.
"We have to get back. Can you walk? We got a car a few miles out." Rick says, walking back over to the couple.
"I'm good." Glenn says and Rick and Maggie lift him to a standing position.
"Look if Merle's around I need to see him." Daryl says, walking over to Rick.
Rick shakes his head, "No, we are in hostile territory."
"He's his brother, he ain't gonna-" I begin to argue but Rick cuts me off.
"Look what he did, we gotta get out of here now!" Rick says, trying to talk some sense into him.
"Maybe I can talk to him, maybe I can work something out." Daryl counters, his eyes wide.
"No, no, no you're not thinking straight. Look no matter what they say they are hurt. Glenn can barely walk. How are we gonna make it out if we get over run by walkers? If this guy catches up to us I need you, the both of you. Are you with me?" Rick asks, looking between the two of us.
I glance over at Daryl and he looks down at me. As much as I want to see Merle, I know that Rick is right. We need to get Glenn and Maggie out safely, then maybe we can figure something out. I plead with him with my eyes and he looks at me for a long moment before looking back at Rick, giving him a small nod, "Yeah."
Rick turns and looks to me and I nod, "Yeah."
"Okay, we need to do this now. We toss some more smoke grenades out, give us some cover. We try and make to where Michonne took us in, if not we try to escape through any part of the wall. Everyone got that?" Rick asks, looking between our group.
We all nod our head and I grip my gun tightly in my hand and we get into formation by the door as Daryl grabs a smoke grenade. Rick turns to face us all, "On three, stay tight. One, two three." He says, quickly opening the door.
Daryl tosses out two grenades and we wait a second before rushing out into the smoke, beginning to shoot at the people who fire at us. I raise my gun and shoot at a man, him falling to the ground. This is the first man that I have killed and a weird feeling overcomes me. But I push it away and continue to shoot as we make our way towards an exit. There is yelling around us, the others yelling to each other as we shoot at them.
"Quick take cover! Get down!" Rick yells.
Daryl traps at my arm and pulls me with him over towards a building, "How many?" Rick asks.
"I didn't see." Oscar answers.
"Doesn't matter, there could be more of them." Daryl says, reloading his gun.
Gunfire still continues and Rick turns to Daryl, "Any grenades left?"
"Yeah." He answers.
"We gotta get ready and gun it to the wall." Rick raises his voice over the gunfire.
The gunfire continues and Maggie takes a few shots at them before hiding behind the wall once more. Daryl turns to us all, "You guys go ahead, I'm gonna lay down some cover fire."
I shake my head, "No, we gotta stick together!"
He shakes his head, "It's too hairy. I'll be right behind you." He says.
"Dare-" I begin and he turns and looks me in the eye, "I promise, I'll be right behind you."
I look at him for a moment before nodding my head in defeat. Maggie quickly fires a few more shots before Daryl yells at us, "You ready?!"
He steps out and tosses the grenade which goes off again. He rushes forward to fire while I cover Glenn and Maggie who run towards the buses.
"Keep going!" Rick yells out, stepping forward to shoot.
"This way!" Oscar yells, climbing up onto the bus.
Maggie and I shoot as he pulls Glenn up onto the bus. Suddenly I hear screaming from behind us and I turn to see Oscar lying on the ground, instantly dead.
"Shit!" I yell, kneeling down and inspecting him as Maggie yells, "Rick! Rick!"
Glenn yells from on top of the bus and I aim my gun at Oscar's head and shoot, fulfilling the pact we all made so long ago. Maggie begins to climb up behind me and Rick runs over towards us. I look out into the smoke, "Daryl!" I yell.
"Go!" He yells back as Rick reaches me.
I shake my head, "I'm going after him."
Rick grasps at my arms, "No. Bree we have to go."
"I'm not leaving him here!" I yell, going to go past him but he keeps his grasp on me.
"No, Daryl will be fine but I need you to help me get Maggie and Glenn out. I can't do it on my own." He says, looking me right in the eye.
I look at him for a long moment, indecision and turmoil in my heart. I shake my head and nod, "Okay."
"Alright." He says, leaning down to give me a boost.
I step up and climb up on top of the bus as the gunfire continues around us. Rick climbs up behind me, the four of us quickly climbing down the other side. As we all reach the bottom we run off around the walls, hiding from the people that are pursuing us. I hate leaving Daryl back there, but I know he can handle himself. Suddenly all the noise stops and I can't help but wonder if it's good news or bad news.
We run for a little while before we reach a hidden spot and Rick calls or to us, "Get down!"
I kneel down behind him and I hear Glenn breathing in pain, slumped to the ground. Lights shine around the walls, trying to spot us but we are too well hidden.
"Come on Daryl." Rick mutters and I feel my anxiety rise.
Suddenly there is a noise from behind us and I turn in the hopes of seeing him. Instead Michonne slides us from underneath a truck, looking worse for wear. We get up and Rick aims his gun at her head, "Where the hell were you?" He demands as she gets to her feet.
I aim my gun at her and Rick speaks to her, "Put your hands up!"
She does at he says, "Turn around. Turn around!" He demands.
She turns and Rick reaches forward, taking her katana out of its sheath. She turns back and leans against the truck, her arms dropping as Rick lowers his gun. He steps forward and looks her in the eye, "You get what you came for?"
"Where are the rest of your people?" She asks.
"They got Oscar." Glenn sneers.
"Daryl's missing, did you see him?" I ask.
She shakes her head and Rick steps forward, "If anything happens to them-"
"I brought you here to save them." She states, trying to defend herself.
"Thanks for the help." Rick says, his tone cold.
"You'll need help. To get them back to the prison or to go back in there for Daryl. Either way... You need me." She states, her eyes pleading with his.
Rick looks at her for a long moment before turning and looking at three of us. I give him a small nod of my head and he turns and looks at her and gives her nod. She lets out a relieved breath and Rick turns to face us all, "Alright, here's the plan."