XLII

—/<3/—

"Hey, you still mad?" Daryl questioned as he approached Rory a couple of hours later.

"Do you know how bad that made me look?" Rory asked. The edge in her voice suggested that she was, in fact, still mad.

"Hitting Rick?"

"No, he deserved that." Rory rolled her eyes. "I brought an injured woman back talking about how it's a safe place with nice people and when we get here, she's locked in a room, yelled at and assaulted." Rory counted the bullets she had left and shoved them in her bag along with her gun. "She was planning on leaving anyway Daryl, and she saw what happened to Maggie and Glenn, yet Rick grilled her and hurt her. That makes me look bad."

"She could've been dangerous," Daryl said with a frown.

"She was barely conscious. It was medical attention in return for information. She saw what happened and knew the guy who took them, I didn't. Without her, we wouldn't be able to get them back. But no, it's only okay when Rick brings new people in, because he's such a good judge of character."

"He's in charge. He's only looking out for the group."

"Is he? Because last I remembered, he's been sat twiddling his thumbs in the boiler room for the past two days. He hasn't slept, eaten and he's barely looked at Carl and the baby. He can't look out for everyone if he's not there and he's not taking care of himself. I get that he's just lost Lori and he's grieving, but Carl was the one who had to kill her. He needs his dad more than ever and the baby needs a parent." Rory rambled angrily as she continued to throw things into her bag.

"Calm down, Rory," Daryl said. "You've gotta understand why he did that."

"Calm down?" Rory raised her eyebrows, turning to face him. "He assaulted someone to get what he wanted today when Michonne was more than willing to tell us what she knew anyway, and I just need to accept that he did it for a reason?"

Daryl flinched, he knew that sounded wrong, and he knew Rick had been off lately.

"Look, I'm sorry, I don't want to take this out on you." Rory sighed. "We'll talk after we get Glenn and Maggie back." Rory reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. Daryl nodded, watching after her as she left him in her cell.

—/<3/—

Sneaking into Woodbury was the easy part, but getting to Glenn and Maggie unnoticed was far from easy. Michonne led them in through a building by the walls, where Rick proceeded to argue with her about the people on the streets.

"Right now it's the blind leading the blind, let's split up," Daryl suggested. Rick was about to answer when a knock on the door silenced him. Rory was pulled behind the corner by Oscar and moments later, the door creaked open and a man walked in.

"I know you're in here, saw the movement from outside," the man said as he began to walk further into the room. "You know you ain't supposed to be in here." He continued.

Rick jumped him when he got close enough, forcing the man on his knees and putting a gun to his head so he'd remain silent. "Zip tie him," Rick ordered Daryl.

"Where are our people?" He grilled the man.

"I don't know!" The man's voice shook. Rick swore and shoved a piece of cloth into his mouth before Daryl hit him over the back of the head with his crossbow. They were about to leave when gunshots rang through the air, making them pause. The streets began to fill with armed men who ran towards the source.

Rick inched open the front door slowly and they snuck out whilst everyone was distracted with the commotion.

They crept into the building just in time to spot the Woodbury gunmen putting sacks over Glenn and Maggie's heads. Rick swore and grabbed one of the flash-bangs from his bag, launching it when the men began to lead the couple outside.

Rory could barely see but she grabbed Maggie and made a run for it just as bullets began to fly once more. They made it out, thankfully without any injuries. All that was left to do was to somehow escape the streets of Woodbury without being spotted or killed.

"How did you find us?" Maggie yelled as they all ducked into a house to hide.

"Not important right now," Rick answered.

"Where's that woman?" She yelled again.

"She was right behind us." Rick peeled back the curtain and peeked through the windows cautiously to see if Michonne was nearby.

"Want me to go look for her?" Oscar offered.

"Nah, get these guys out. She's on her own."

"Daryl, it was Merle! He did this." Glenn panted as Maggie helped him off the ground. He was battered and bruised, his eye practically swollen shut.

"You saw him?" Daryl asked.

"Face to face. He threw a walker at me. He was gonna execute us."

"So, my brother's this 'Governor'?" Daryl stepped on front of Glenn, needing more information.

"No, that's another guy, your brother's his lieutenant or somethin'," Maggie said as she wrapped a blanket around Glenn's shoulders.

"Rick, we're sorry, we told him where the prison was, we couldn't hold out."

"No, don't apologise." Rick checked the window again. "We have to get back. Glenn can you walk? We got a couple cars about a mile out."

"I'm good."

"Wait, if Merle's alive I need to see him," Daryl said. Rory had never heard him sound so desperate, so hopeful.

"Not right now, we're in hostile territory," Rick said firmly.

"He's my brother he ain't gonna—"

"Look what he did to Glenn! We need to get out of here, now!" Rick hissed.

"Maybe I can talk to him and work something out!"

"You're not thinking straight. They hurt Glenn and Maggie, Glenn can barely walk. How are we gonna make it out of here if that governor catches up with us? I need you! Are you with me?" Rick panted.

"Yeah," Daryl said hesitantly. Rory reached out and brushed her hand against his in an attempt to comfort him.

"He knows where we're holed up. He'll come looking for you," Rory whispered to him once Rick had turned around to scout out his many people were outside the building. Daryl nodded slowly and then prepped the flash-bang. He threw it outside when Rick ordered him to and they all ran out a moment later, guns raised.

They shot down the men on the walls but more came up behind them, immediately taking over and shooting relentlessly. They wouldn't be able to jump over without someone getting hurt, so they took cover between two buildings to reload.

"We gotta get to that wall!" Rick yelled over the noise.

"You guys get ready to run, I'll lay down some cover fire," Daryl said as he organised his weapons.

"No! We can't split up!" Maggie shouted.

"It's only for a couple seconds," Daryl threw a smoke bomb, took a few shots and then followed the group as they ran for the wall. Glenn, Maggie and Oscar climbed on top of an RV, readying themselves to made the jump whilst Daryl and Rick took cover behind some bushes, to take care of the guards.

"Aurora? Rory is that you?" A voice said from her left as she shot down a man who was trying to sneak up on Rick from behind.

She froze at the familiar voice and turned slowly, eyes flitting between the man approaching with his gun lowered and the guards shooting at her friends.

"Jonah," she whispered, eyes wide.

—/<3/—