Beauty and Her Beast (Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

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I punched Daryl square in the jaw when him, Michonne, and some other kid walked in the front door. Not because he left, but because he left without a word and I had no idea where he went. When I gave him the chance to explain, I forgave him, as did Luke. Faith was more than excited to see him again.

We walker-proofed the church the next day before saying our goodbyes to Gabriel, Michonne, Carl, Luke, Judith, and Faith. I was praying that everything would go alright. Especially considering the last time we were in Atlanta, we nearly died in a fiery explosion. Also every rescue mission has gone bad at one point or another.

We found an old warehouse once we got into Atlanta, going to the top floor so we had a view of the hospital.

Rick found a piece of rebar, squatting down and drawing the layout of the hospital with the help of Noah. "At sundown we fire a shot into the air. Get two of them out on patrol. Then once it's dark enough that the rooftop spotter won't see us, we go. We cut the locks on one of the stairways, take it to the fifth floor. I open the door, Daryl takes the guard out."

"How?" Ty interrupted.

"He slits his throat. This is all about us doing this quiet, keeping the upper hand. They're not expecting us. From there we fan out. Knives and silenced weapons. We need to be fast." He looked down, drawing x's on the layout. "Tyreese, Sasha, take them. Daryl, Lottie, you take whoever's in the kitchen. I got Dawn. If they're smart, the rest of them will give up. Then it'll be five on three. Six on three once we get a weapon to Beth."

"12 on three." Noah nodded. "The wards will help."

"That's best case." Ty looked at Noah. "What's the worst case?" He shook his head. "All it takes is one of those cops going down the hall at the wrong time. Then it's not quiet. All hands on deck. We're talking about a lot of bullets flying around."

"If that's what it takes." Sasha's voice was monotone, completely devoid of emotion.

"It's not. If we get a couple of her cops alive out here, we do an even trade. Theirs for ours. Everybody goes home."

Rick stood up, walking close to Ty. "Yeah, I get it. And it might work. This will work."

"Nah, that'll work, too." Daryl spoke up beside me. I smiled. "You say this Dawn, she's just trying to keep it together, right?"

"Trying and doing are two different things." Noah shook his head.

"You take two of her cops away, what choice does she have? Everybody goes home. Like he says."

~*~

We went outside, had Noah fire his gun. It wasn't long after that did we hear a car. We ducked behind a building so they wouldn't see us and Noah fired again. They cut him off with the car and got out, aiming their guns at him. "Put it down, Noah." He set the gun down. "Hands up. Turn around." He did as he was told and the other cop put zip ties on his wrists.

"I thought you were smart, Noah. You think we wouldn't hear you?" Rick signaled for us to move in.

"Where are those rotter you were shooting at?"

Rick whistled. They turned with their guns raised. "Hands."

"What do you want?"

"Whatever this is, we can help."

"You do what we say, we don't hurt you."

The woman didn't budge, but the man complied. "Okay." He raised his hands. The woman put hers down after he surrendered.

Rick nodded. "Good. Now turn around. Put your guns on the floor and kneel." They did so and we collected their weapons. Ty cut Noah's zip ties. Sasha pulled some more out of the woman's pocket, handing some to Daryl. "We need to talk. There's water if you need some, and food."

Daryl and Sasha made them stand, keeping a tight hold on their arms. "Mind if I ask you something?" The man asked.

He looked Rick up and down. "The way you talk...the way you carry yourself...were you a cop?" Rick just stare at him. "Believe it or not, I was, too." Rick nodded slightly, turning to Noah.

"That's Lamson. He'll be down for this. He's one of the good ones."

We were interrupted by the sound of tires squealing as it rounded the corner. We all moved out of the way. Rick fired a few shots into the windshield, then took cover with us. The guy driving shot at us through the window, and we responded. Someone in the back opened the door, letting Lamson and the woman get in.

They drove off, but Sasha responded quickly, shooting out one of their tires. We chased after them, soon finding ourselves to be in some sort of evac station. There were walkers melted to the pavement and cars and trailer that had caught on fire. This is from when they dropped napalm in the city. Right after everything went to shit. We moved slowly, watching each others backs. I grimaced as we passed the walkers, their flesh pink and stuck to the pavement, flies buzzing around them. We moved though the area, running when we saw the two we captured running away. "Two. On me."

We chased them around the corner, gaining quickly. I tackled the woman to the ground, while Rick got Lamson. "Nice try." I whispered in her ear, forcing her to her feet. I looked around, furrowing my brow. "Where's Daryl?"

"Let's go." Rick nodded. We handed the hostages to Ty and Sasha, running back the way we came. We saw Daryl bashing a walker head against a mans head. Rick shot a nearby walker. He kept his gun aimed at the man while I helped Daryl.

"Daryl, baby are you okay? Are you bit?" I rushed, checking him everywhere.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Relax." I started helping him up, but he stopped, staring behind me. I looked back at Rick. He had his gun aimed at the man's head, who was now standing. He had a deadly look in his eyes. "Rick. Rick." He didn't budge. We stood up, Daryl walking behind the man. "Rick, three is better than two."

Rick lowered his gun and Daryl yanked the man's arms behind his back, zip tying his wrists.