ch.23

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   "daryl, you don't have to this." i stated, running behind him as he walked back to the car.

    "you'd do the same thing if it were your sisters." daryl mumbled, earning an eye roll, "no my sisters wouldn't have done what merle..."

    i stopped myself before saying anything else, quickly changing the subject, "what do you want us to tell carol?"

    he paused, turning to look at me, "she'll understand" he nodded, causing me to place a hand on my head, unsure what to say next.

    "what about me, huh? after what we've been through at the farm. you can't just make me care and then leave. you're my best friend"

     daryl shook his head, reaching back inside the car, "you'll be fine, mel. you always are."

    i sighed, watching as he swung his bag over his shoulder, closing the trunk lid. "take care of glenn and the others. most importantly yourself, i know how you can get."

    "how i can get?" i asked, crossing my arms over my chest. he nodded, "risking your life too damn much for people who don't deserve it."

    i scoffed, "like you're doing right now for merle?"

    he ignored my comment, moving towards the woods. "daryl, are you serious? daryl!" glenn called out, moving to where i stood.

    daryl ignored glenn too, grabbing his brothers shoulders before walking deep into the woods.

   "come on" i mumbled, glancing between the three as i opened the car door. i knew that no matter how much we called out and pleaded for daryl to stay, he wouldn't listen. ____________

   my eyes shifted from the outside the backseat window, to the front when the car came to a stop.

    i sighed, seeing a red truck stopped in the middle of the road. without a second thought, i hopped out, wanting to just get back to the prison.

   "get the brakes" rick stated, causing me and glenn to nod as we moved towards the truck.

   glenn opened the door, coming face first with a walker. i watched as he grabbed its shoulders, throwing it to the ground. completely and ruthlessly stomping it's head into mush.

   me and rick eyed him up and down, following him when he slowly walked away. "you didn't kill him."

    i gave rick a confused look, standing a little bit farther away from the two. "that's not why we went back"

    "no. that's right. you went back for daryl and now he's gone again and the governor is still alive." glenn sneered, never taking his eyes off rick.

    "melanie and daryl were the priority" rick replied, nodding his head. "i should have been with you." glenn mumbled

    "you were in no condition."

    "but my girlfriend was?" glenn shouted, causing me to step in, "glenn, this isn't about us."

    he completely ignored me, continuing on, "i should have been there."

     "hey, hey, you didn't come back with me because you could barely walk." rick replied, only pissing glenn off more.

    "what about her?"

    "what about me, glenn?" i asked, throwing my hands out to my sides. "do you know what he did to her?!"

    "leave it alone!" i shouted, getting fed up with glenns change in attitude. i saw ricks attention turn to me, finally getting a jist on what the governor did.

     i moved, holding onto the back of the truck for support, taking a deep breath. "let's just get this out of here and get back. get some rest. we can talk it out there"

     glenn shook his head, "no, you guys do all the talking you want. i'm done"

    me and rick watched him walk to get the brakes, leaving the two of us alone at the back.

    "do you wanna talk about what happen..." before he could finish i cut him off, shaking my head, "i'd rather not."

     he hesitated, giving me a look, soon nodding, "okay"______________

    the car ride back to the prison was chilling to say the least. none of us talked, all unsure what to say about the last conversation we had.

    when we arrived, rick stepped out of the car to greet carl. leaving me, glenn, and michonne alone. "drive 'em up. i'll meet you there."

    i nodded, sliding into the drivers seat, "okay"

    once i parked the car, i jumped out, moving to michonnes side to help her inside. "you good?" i questioned, earning a nod.

    i glanced at glenn before heading inside, seeing a group of unfamiliar faces. i kept my head down as i walked pass them, not quite trusting new people anymore.

    "not exactly a chatterbox, are they?" i heard a guy smartly remark, causing me to almost turn around and say something but michonne just shook her head.

    i hesitated, looking back at them before nodding, fully entering the cell block. "hershel will check you out. i'm gonna check on someone real quick"

   she nodded, watching as i moved up the stairs, seeing carol, beth, and the new baby. "can i hold her?" i asked, earning a smile from beth as she carefully handed her to me.

i smiled, lightly bouncing her as admired her tiny brown eyes. "well how's our little ass-kicker doing?"

she giggled, reaching out her hand for my face. "while you were away, they named her." beth informed, turning my attention towards her.

"go on" i smiled, watching her nod as she stepped closer, "judith. carl came up with the name. i think it fits her well"

"judith, huh? i think so too" i agreed, leaning to plant a kiss on the babies forehead before giving her back to beth.

"i need to see your dad, any idea where he is?" i asked, earning a nod as she pointed down the stairs, to a cell.

"i'll see you later" i assured, heading down the stairs and into the room. finding both glenn and hershel.

"oh um, i'll come back later"

"no, no. i was just getting done" glenn stated, standing up from the bed. giving me a small smile before he exited the room.

i took a seat where he was, letting out a sigh as i looked at hershel.

"you two all right?" he questioned while starting to clean my face wounds. i looked up at him nodding my head, "mhm"

i lifted up my shirt, giving him access to my stomach. my eyes wondered down, seeing all the bruises.

my attention was turned away as hershel applied pressure, i hissed in pain causing him to look up at me, "he got you bad, huh?"

i shook my head, forcing out a laugh, "yeah, he didn't go easy on me, that's for sure"

hershel went silent as he focused on cleaning my wounds. "is glenn alright?" i questioned, causing hershel to pause, looking up at me.

"go see" hershel mumbled, earning a scoff as i shook my head, "i'd rather wait awhile. i've never seen him get so mad."

hershel sat up, packing his things away, "you'll both come around sooner or later. and i know you and glenn, it'll be sooner then later."

i forced a smile, giving him a nod as he stood up, getting ready to exit my room. "take it easy, melanie. you can only have so much luck" ____________

   we all gathered around, trying to figure out a plan for if the governor decided to attack. "we should hit him now."

    my eyes shot to glenn, shocked from the words that just came from his mouth, "what?"

    "he won't be expecting it. we'll sneak back in and put a bullet in his head." glenn stated, while i crossed my arms over my chest.

    "do you hear yourself?" i questioned, only to be ignored as he stood up, walking to where michonne stood.

    "you know where his apartment is. you and i could end this tonight, i'll do it myself."

    she paused, giving it a thought, before hesitantly nodding. "he didn't know you were coming last time and look what happened"

    my eyes shifted to hershel who just now walked in, deciding to put his opinion out too.

   "you were almost killed. daryl was captured. and you and melanie were almost executed."

   "you can't stop me" glenn sneered, stepping closer to hershel. i scoffed, appalled by his attitude towards hershel.

    his eyes moved to where i stood, soon stepping out of the room and into the cell block.

     i stared up at the bunk above me, trying to think of anything but glenn. he was changing so fast, and it scared the hell out of me.

     to my surprise, and just my luck, he soon appeared in the doorway, slowly taking a step in. "where have you been?"

    i ignored his questioned, looking up at the bed above me. he went silent for a moment, unsure what to say.

    "are we gonna talk about this?" he questioned, making my eyes shoot back up to his, still no words left my mouth.

   "melanie, you need to talk about this."

   my eyes gave him a questioning look, "i do? or you do?" i asked as i sat up, leaning my back up against the wall.

   "what does that mean?" he questioned, in which i answered quickly, "what do you want me to say?"

   "you want me to say he made me get naked and stand in front of him? or that merle beat the shit out of me, while i was tied down to a chair. that they put their hands all over me." i stated in a calm voice. like it wasn't a big deal, but it was. at least it should've been.

   "did he.." he trailed off as his eyes leaving mine.

   "what? rape me?" i asked, getting pissed at the situation, "no."

   "now do you feel better?" i questioned, earning a quick glance. "melanie, i'm not trying to.." but before he could go any further i cut him off.

   "i had a choice. either i take off my shirt or he would take off your hand." my voice trembled as i went on, "i just listened to merle beating the shit out of you in the other room. what could i do?"

   "i was tired of letting everyone down, and i wasn't gonna make you take the pain from me any longer. so if that meant him bending me over a table, so be it." i uttered, trying not to let the tears over take my body as i forced them back.

   "i'm- i'm sorry" he reached out a hand trying to comfort me but i quickly rejected it, slapping it away. after that it turned into a frenzy of me swatting at him, trying to get him out of my sight, but he stood there, waiting for me to say something.

   "go away." i mumbled, clenching my teeth together, "you got your answer, now go away."

   after i spoke, he gave me a small nod, leaving the room. _____________

   after awhile i started wondering around the prison, since i couldn't do anything, i decided to monitor everything. just to make sure it was going as planned.

   i stood in the courtyard watching over the prison gates when my eyes saw movement in the woods. i decided to wonder into the open field, getting closer to the figure.

"hershel?" i questioned, realizing it was him from a short distance away. "how come you're out here?"

he shrugged, "just needed some fresh air, that's all."

"yeah, i've been needing a lot of that lately" i mumbled, shoving my hands in my jean pockets.

"what about you? why are you out here?"

i sighed, stepping closer to him, " just to check on if everything was okay."

he nodded, "why don't you go get some rest? you've been through a lot in the past twenty four hours."

   i have hershel a small nod, turning  to head back up the hill but before i could, a gunshot rang through my ears.

  i fell to my stomach, trying to shield myself from the bullets. i reached down, grabbing my gun from my holster before turning back to make sure hershel was alright.

"you okay?" i questioned, earning a nod, "what the hells going on?"

"i have a feeling this is the governors doing"

both of our attention was pulled away from each other as a revving noise range through the air.

my heart dropped, remembering that glenn had taken the truck out somewhere. "please don't be glenn. please don't be glenn."

a cube truck soon appeared in my vision, causing me to let out a sigh in relief. but just like hershel said, one person can only have so much luck.

my eyes widened, watching the truck plow through our gates, speeding straight into the field.

a loud bang rang through the air, and soon walkers came walking out of the back of the truck. coming straight towards me and hershel.

"go, melanie! hershel! get the hell out of there!" rick shouted, causing me to kneel, taking out some of the walkers.

"go, get to maggie or beth. i'll cover you" i insisted, earning a worried look, "just go! okay?"

hershel didn't hesitate this time as he pulled him self up, limping away from the commotion.

i ran into the crowd, firing at any walker close until my gun ran out of ammo, turning to my fighting knife.

my eyes shot to where hershel was, now seeing glenn and michonne helping him into the truck.

i huffed out a smile before continuing on, soon getting crowded. i let out a grunt, using the last of my energy to run towards the gate, joining with the others.

________________________________3/1/2021