In the Very End: Book One

Chapter 30

*WARNING: Please be advised that this chapter contains mature content and strong language.*

Chapter 30
Daryl's POV

I ran through the woods as gunshots echoed through them. I emerged from the edge of the trees and the sight was not pretty at all. The Governor and his friends hopped into a truck and sped out of the courtyard of the prison.

I saw an orange truck in the middle of the field and walkers everywhere. Rick was up against the outside fence with two walkers trying to get to him. I aimed and let an arrow whiz through the air. It landed just inches from his face.
Merle ran and took out some of the others near us. I'm kind of glad he came back. Rick and I made eye contact and nodded to each other.

"What the hell happened?" I asked.

"Governor came, set all those walkers free, took down that fence over there near the south wall."

"We can deal with it for a little bit," I assured. "He ain't gettin' outta here alive, no way. That son of a bitch will regret this." Now that I was cool with Rick, I was onto my next mission: "Where's Quinn?"

___

Quinn's POV

I saw a flash of his face and at first I thought it was unreal, but his arms were around me and his lips were on mine. As I pulled back, my hand connected with his cheek.

"You fucking asshole!" I shouted. "Don't fucking kiss me. How could you leave me like that? I can live without you, believe me, but I don't want to! You make everything better. You're my smile when everything's going to shit. You get me. You're the only one who gets me." I pushed his chest. "How could you just leave?"

"I messed up," he admitted. "I'm never leaving you again, Quinn; trust me when I say that."

"I get he's family but goddamn, Daryl. Look at where you are. You came back for a reason. That reason is because we're your family."

He nodded and wrapped his arms around me. I could tell he was about to break down. I hugged him back.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you, too, Dixon."

___

"We're not leavin'," Rick insisted.

"We can't stay here," Hershel argued, his voice rising.

"What if there's another sniper?" Maggie pointed out. "A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds."

"We can't even go outside," Beth added.

"If Rick says we're not running, we're not running," Glenn confirmed.

"No, better to live like rats," Merle spoke up from his cage that he was locked in.

"You got a better idea?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, we should of slid outta here last night and lived to fight another day. We lost that one though, didn't we? I'm sure he's got scouts on every road outta this place by now."

"We ain't scared of that prick," Daryl spoke from the upper level.

"Y'all should be," Merle warned. "That truck through the fence; that's just him ringin' the doorbell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers, and if he takes the high ground around this place...shoot, he could just starve us down if he wanted to."

"Let's put him in the other cellblock," Maggie said, overwhelmed. "This is all you. You started this."

"What's the difference on whose fault it is?" Beth said. "What do we do?"

"I said we should leave and now Axel's dead," Hershel spoke up. "We can't just sit here."

Rick turned and started to head back to the lower levels.

"Get back here!" Hershel yelled. "You're slippin', Rick. We've all seen it. We understand why, but now is not the time. You once said this isn't a democracy. Now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in your hands. So get your head clear and do something."

___

"Field's filled with walkers," Rick informed. "I didn't see any snipers out there, but we'll keep Maggie on watch."

"I'll get up in the guard tower, take out half them walkers and give these guys a chance to fix the fence," Daryl offered.

"Or use some of the cars to put the bus in place," I suggested.

"We can't access the field without burnin' through our bullets," Hershel downed.

"So we're trapped in here," Glenn clarified. "There's barely any food or ammo."

"Been here before. We'll be alright," Daryl assured.

"That's when it was just us, before there was a snake in the nest."

"Man, we gonna go through this again? Look, Merle's stayin' here. He's with us now. Get used to it. All y'all," Daryl snapped as he climbed up to the perch.

"Seriously, Rick," Glenn started. "I don't think Merle living here is really gonna fly."

"I can't kick him out," Rick said firmly.

"I wouldn't ask you to live with Shane after he tried to kill you," Glenn spat.

"Merle has military experience," Hershel informed.

"He may be erratic, but don't underestimate his loyalty to Daryl," I added.

"What if we solve both problems at once?" Glenn suggested. "Deliver Merle to the Governor; bargaining ship. Give him the traitor, maybe call truce."

I scoffed. "Governor isn't gonna stop after he gets Merle. We'll just end up losing more man power and giving it to him."

I headed off to an empty cell. I sat on the cot, twiddling Daryl's arrow between my fingers. We got ourselves neck deep in shit creek.