The Middle of the End

Chapter six

Chapter Six: Not Giving Up

Merle wasn't on the rooftop, but his right hand was. After Daryl wrapped it up and placed it in Glenn's bag we followed the trail of blood down several flights of stairs and through numerous rooms inhabited by silenced walkers. Daryl led us to a kitchen, where Rick found burnt flesh on a hot iron. The propane stove had been lit, and a small fire circled the front burners. Merle had cauterized his stump. I saw a bloody rag lying near a broken window, nudging Glenn.

"Guess we know how he escaped." Glenn shrugged and stuck his head out the window.

"Careful!" I pulled him back. Daryl and Rick fought for several minutes and it was decided we would search the two surrounding blocks before going for the guns. Glenn came up with a game plan and he would be the one to grab the bag of guns as soon as we'd finished looking for Merle.

"Ok. But Cal goes with me. Got that, Rick?" Daryl glared at Rick.

"Fine by me." Rick nodded and we got ready to leave. According to Glenn, the bag of guns was sitting in front of a tank five blocks away; Glenn Daryl, and I would sneak to one of the alleys closest to the tank. It took about forty-five minutes to get there, but we were in no hurry. We still hadn't located Merle.

"You got some balls for a Chinamen." Daryl told Glenn, loading his crossbow.

"I'm Korean." Glenn rolled his eyes and ran into the street. Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone walking up behind us.

"Daryl. Someone's coming." I whispered.

"Stay behind me." He held his crossbow up and aimed for the person's head.

"No, wait! Don't shoot me!" a boy with a Spanish accent held his arms up. He was scrawny, and didn't really look like much. "What d'you want?!"

"I'm lookin' for my brother, he's hurt real bad. You seen 'em?" Daryl pushed him deeper into the alley, and he kept yelling for someone. "Shut up! You'll bring the geeks down on us!"

I went back to check on Glenn and the boy still wouldn't quiet down. I saw Daryl knock him to the ground and cover his mouth when four men came running towards us. One had a baseball bat, covered in slime and coagulated walker blood. He and one of the men attacked Daryl, the other two running my way. Glenn had run into the alley with the bag of guns; the men wanted the guns.

"Hey, leave him alone!" I pulled out the knife Daryl lent me and ran for the man with the bat, who had started hitting Daryl with it.

"Not so fast, missy." one of the men grabbed me from behind, wrenching the knife from my hand. It fell to the ground. "You're comin' with us."

"Leave her be!" Daryl growled; a car pulled up and Glenn was the first to be shoved in.

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The men blindfolded us and tied our hands behind our backs, telling us to keep quiet. It was a quick drive, not even ten minutes later we were hauled out and led up several flights of stairs. The blindfolds were taken off and it took me a couple seconds for my eyes to adjust to the sunlight reflected from the bright white walls.

"Is this a hospital or what?" I asked a woman sitting on a bed next to an elderly man.

"Old folks' home. The staff just left them here to die. My brother and I came to check on our grandparents, and we've been here ever since." she explained.

"I'm Rosie and this is my grandfather, Jorge Senior."

"Callie. He's Glenn. We were on a run in Atlanta for a bag of guns. And to look for someone we'd left behind. Your guys attacked the people we were with and then they took us." I said, and two men came in asking for Glenn to go with them. We didn't appear to be in any sort of danger; maybe they would give me something to eat. I was quite hungry, my apple was still in the back of the van.

"Hey, are you hungry? It's nearly lunch time. Come to the cafeteria and I'll make sure you get something to eat." Rosie offered. We helped Jorge Sr. down the hall and I sat with him at a table by the window. Three chihuahuas were asleep in a dog bed, and I bent down to pet them when I saw Rick's Sheriff hat out of the corner of my eye.

No way!

That little punk was with them, Daryl's crossbow poking into his back. It looked like they were negotiating, until Daryl started yelling. Rick somehow managed to calm him down, and they walked away. They wouldn't leave us here; Shane would have both their asses.

Glenn came back and we ate canned soup when one of the patients began to wheeze. He was having an asthma attack. Glenn tried calming him down until someone came with his puffer.

"Callie!" Daryl all but screamed and nearly dropped his crossbow. Rick and T-Dog were with him, the punk kid hanging around Rosie. I really wanted to slap him, it was his fault we got in this mess. But seeing how swollen his face looked, I could only imagine that Daryl already had.

"Miss me?" I grinned and we were soon on our way; Rick had ended up giving some of the guns to the guy in charge. Daryl kept close to me all the way back through Atlanta. It was getting dark and Shane would be freaking out. I dreaded his reaction when he found out I'd been kidnapped by Vatos.

"It's probably best if we leave out the whole kidnappin' thing. Shane'll be worried enough as it is." Rick told us. He dug through the bag of guns, passed me a black handgun, and said to ask him for more ammo when I ran out.

"Thanks." I nodded, resting my head on Daryl's shoulder. We still had about an hour's drive ahead of us, and would have left Atlanta much earlier if our van hadn't disappeared. Rick and Daryl suspected Merle had taken it. "Daryl?"

"Yea?" he whispered.

"Thanks for not sendin' me back to camp earlier."

"It was nothin'. When we get back, stick close to me and I'll make sure Shane don't interrogate ya. 'Kay?"

"Alright. I'm not scared of him anymore so I'd be fine." I smiled as a breeze of night air came in through the open windows. According to T-Dog, we would be pulling into our camp in no less than ten minutes. I heard gunshots.

"Guys, did you hear that?" Glenn asked from the passengers' seat. T-Dog drove faster and that's when the screams began, followed by more gunshots.

"Got yer gun?" Daryl loaded his crossbow, the car coming to an abrupt stop. "Don't leave my sight."

"Let's go!" Rick hollered and grabbed the gun bag. There were walkers everywhere; Daryl's crossbow wasn't fast enough, with him having to reload every time he shot one of the things so Rick handed him one of the rifles. The five of us took them down in no time at all, and hurried to our group. The kids were safe inside the RV, thank God. What stopped me in my tracks was Andrea, kneeling on the ground crying out for Amy. Amy was lying on the patch of dirt close to the rear end of the RV, blood gushing from a gaping bite on her pale neck. She was dying, we all saw that, and there was nothing we could do but watch. Andrea's sobs of anguish were tearing me apart to the point where I could no longer stand it. I caught Daryl's eye and nodded towards his truck.

"Y'know how you said you weren't scared of Shane anymore? Why were ya scared of him in the first place?" Daryl wondered after everything had settled down, and Shane had told me we'd talk in the morning.

"It's hard to explain. He's controlling. The was he towers over me, he's so big and strong. There is a certain coldness in his eyes that he only saves for me. He used to be really mean when we were kids, he was the most feared boy on the playground. No one crossed him, unless they wanted to be pushed around. In fact, the only person to stand up to him was Rick, and they've been friends ever since."

"He ain't ever hit you or anythin' though, has he? 'Cause I swear I'll knock his teeth down his throat."

"No. He'd never stoop that low. He was raised to never lay a hand on women or children. Just the mere thought of it pisses him off." I yawned loudly. "I think it's bedtime. Tomorrow is gonna be really busy."

"Yeah. You sleep in the tent, I'll keep watch."