Chapter 028

Axel is dead.

That much is all I know as I can feel myself returning from the depths of my own mind, my own memories. A man who had survived in this prison for months, who was wrongfully charged for a crime he didn't commit, is dead. He had became one of us, apart of this very dysfunctional family we've created over the year of being within this damned world. He did not deserve the fate he received, yet one of the Governor's men had decided to take his life while the Governor seemed to play God.

Squeezing my eyelids closer together, I force them to open with a few rapid blinks. My vision is blurry for a moment, clearly just enough for me to see that the sun had sat. A blanket is draped over me, tucked neatly and carefully as if I had been in a hospital bed. I am in a cell, the cell we use for medical care — something I could tell due to the medical supplies Carl had brought back from the infirmary. There was a lot more than what he had brought bad the day Hershel lost his leg, letting me know that they finished raiding it.

Noticing that I am alone, I pull the covers off of me with ease, finally noticing that I was no longer wearing a shirt. My week-old postpartum body looks mangled with the loose skin and stretch marks, a newly added bandage with blood seeping through was just the cake on top. Holding my right side, I wince as I force myself to sit up. The bullet wound sits a little higher than the scar that rests above my left hip, reminding me of the time I ran after Sophia on the highway.

      Wincing as I force my legs off the bed, I am suddenly greeted with rough mangled fur. A small smile forms on my face as I look down just below my feet, seeing Millie lying there. She instantly stands up and places her two front legs on the bed, her tongue greeting my face with ease. Running my hands over her face as a laugh leaves my lips, I carefully pull her off of me before she gets too excited.         "Hi, Millie-Girl." I sign tiredly, before using the sit motion so she could calm down a bit. It's been a minute since I've actually interacted with her, having kept her on a cell or next to Sophia at all times. While I don't like having her shoved away at all, we didn't know what we had been walking into when coming to this prison. Forcing myself to my feet, I use the white foldable table to balance myself just as Millie moves to stand next to me.

      Patting her head as a way of thanking her, I slowly begin to walk toward the gates of the cell, using the table for support. Clamping my lips together as I force myself forward, I almost groaning with each step. Pain tugs at the wound, almost to the point of causing me to fall, but I push forward. I need to find the others, I need to know who all is dead or if they managed to take out the Governor.

      "We can't stay here!" Hershel Greene had yelled, a commotion greeting me the very second I had made it out of the cell. Nobody realizes I am standing there, so I lean against the gate to give myself some time. Everyone is looking toward Rick, fear very evident in their features over the most recent attack. Hershel, Maggie, Beth, Glenn, T-Dog, Michonne, Vanessa, Carl, Sophia, Judith, Thalia and Rick were standing through the cell block, alive yet scared. I allow myself to feel relieved that everyone is alive and well, everyone but Axel.

      "What if there's another sniper? A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds." Maggie asks as she folds her arm over her chest, glancing between Glenn and Rick who seems to be on the same page on whether we leave or go. "We can't even go outside," Vanessa states as she motions toward the walls that block everyone from outside. I could see the stress eating away at her, while supporting specks of blood on her shirt. Is that my blood? I remember she and Maggie had picked me up, but that is all I remember. "Not in the day at least."

      "Rick says we're not running, we're not running." Glenn fights back, his hand slamming on the table that seems to be between them. Suddenly their heads snap in the direction of a cell, causing me to follow their gaze. My body stills as I am met with the familiar blues of someone I thought had died months ago, someone my husband left to find a home for to be safe. Merle Dixon stands in a cell, his arms dangling from the cells door that had been closed and locked.

      "We should have slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day. But we lost that window, didn't we?" Merle states as he stares back at everyone else, before his eyes seem to settle on mine. He doesn't seem shocked to see me standing here, so he must have seen me struggling to even get out of the cell next to him. "I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now."

      "We ain't scared of that dickless prick." I spat, finally letting myself be known by the others who failed to see I had gotten up. Merle looks at me in shock, never having heard my voice a day in his life. I look away from my brother in-law, turning to look at everyone else. Their eyes are wide as they look at me, seeming to be shocked that I am up and moving rather than resting.

      Before anyone could utter another word, I am suddenly wrapped in someone's arms — the smell of pine and cigarettes greeting me. Ignoring the pain that came with it, I am quick to wrap my own arms around the man's torso, burying my head into his leathered chest. Daryl has returned to me, holding me closer than ever as the fear of losing me clearly had him panicked. His right hand rests on the back of my head, tangling with my hair as he keeps my head on his chest.

      He is the one to pull away from the bone crushing hug, causing me to lift my head from his chest. His blue eyes met my hazel ones, fear and relief dancing around in them. Feeling his lips connect to my forehead, I close my eyes as I relax at the action. "You ever leave me again, I promise it won't be a walker that kills you." I say half jokingly as we pulled apart completely, earning a half smile from my husband.

      Motioning for him to help me toward Merle, he carefully wraps an arm under my left one. Wincing at the action, he almost pulls away, only for me to shake my head as I start limping toward my brother in-law. Upon reaching him, I grab his shirt in my hand before pulling him closer to the bars, my eyes narrowing at the eldest Dixon. "You are so fucking lucky I'm shot, Merle Dixon," I seethe, feeling the anger I held toward him for what he had done to Maggie and Glenn. "I'd beat you to a fucking pulp like you did Glenn. There was absolutely no reason for that, none. What the hell is wrong with you?"

      "What no welcome party for your ole pal?"        "No friend of mine would beat another person damn near to death."

      Letting go of the man, I push myself away from him still feeling angered by his actions. A part of me wishes that Daryl never found Merle or at least left him in the woods to fend for himself. But I knew Daryl's loyalty lies with his brother just like they did with me. I watch as Merle clears his throat before looking at the others, his blue eyes showing hurt that I did not give him the most welcoming reaction to seeing him.

      "Y'all should be scared of that dickless prick," Merle informs as he uses my insult as a mockery. Rolling my eyes at the man, I tilt my head to look at the others for a split moment. "That truck through the fence thing, that's just him ringing 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 out if he wanted to."

      "Let's put him in another cell block." Glenn orders, his anger very much there at the mere thought of Merle Dixon much less the sight of him. I understand why he is mad at the eldest Dixon, I am too just knowing that he kidnapped Glenn and Maggie before beating Glenn almost to death. He still supports the injuries yet that doesn't seem to stop him from wanting to fight back. "No, he's got a point." Daryl says as he motions toward his brother, finally letting me go.

      "This is all you. You started this!" Glenn yells as he points toward Merle, causing me to step back a bit at the sudden outburst. I was nowhere near Glenn, but I do not want to be between him and Merle if he took matters into his own hands. "What difference does it make whose fault it is? What do we do?" Beth asks, cutting in to calm the tension a bit. I stare at the young girl for a moment, her arms carefully cradling Judith.

      "I said we should leave, now Axel is dead. We can't just sit here," Hershel states as he looks toward our leader. Looking toward Rick myself, I notice that he was beginning to find his way back to the base of his own issues. Rick steps back, rubbing his forehead as he begins to walk away from all of us. "Get back here!" My eyes grow wide as Hershel seems to yell, shocked that he even rose his voice in the slightest.

      "You're slipping, Rick. We've all seen it. We understand why," Hershel Greene continues, pushing his way toward Rick before stopping. Rick had stopped walking too, his back still facing the rest of us just as the sun begins to peak through the windows. How long had I been out? "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!"

      We all remain silent at Hershel's words, everyone glancing between one another as we wait for what happens next. My eyes land on Rick, his back still facing us before he begins to walk off. A part of me wants to call out to him, to fight with him just to get him to stay but I remained silent. We watch as he leaves the cellblock, no doubt returning to the tombs to chase the very ghost of Lori Grimes.

      Adverting my gaze from the door Rick disappeared behind, I am met with the sight of Hershel and Vanessa walking toward me with stern looks. Glancing toward Daryl, he shrugs his shoulders before he looks back toward the duo. "You're not suppose to be out of bed yet," Vanessa states as she folds her arms over her chest. She stares at me sternly, motioning toward my shirtless appearance and the bandage. "It took a lot of time for Hershel and I to work on you and stitch you back up, two wounds y'know."

      "Let's get you back to bed. Then we can discuss all of this more." Hershel suggests, motioning for Daryl to help me back to the cell. I roll my eyes at the older man as Daryl begins to lead me back to the medical cell with ease. Limping as we walked, I try to force myself not to wince with each small step. As I reach the cell, Vanessa is already inside preparing the bed for me to be able to sit up at least.

      A groan escapes my lips as Daryl helps me sit on the bed, causing him to pull away from me worriedly. I only nod my head as he begins to help me scoot my way on to the bed, before lifting my legs for me. Wincing as he did so, I bite my lip to fight back a cry, praying he didn't see it. "Sorry." He mutters as he rests my legs on the bed, allowing me to situate myself to get comfortable.

      Dismissing the apology as he didn't need to say it, he carefully drapes the blanket on me as an attempt to shield my body from the others. I give a small smile as a way of saying thanks while he pulls a chair closer to the bed, sitting in it before grabbing my hand. So I wasn't imagining the rough, calloused hands holding mine during the one time I came to. Daryl Dixon had been here this entire time, by my side through all of this.

      "What all do you remember, Kathy?" Hershel questions as he sits down in a spare chair toward the end of the bed, leaning his crutches against the table with the help of Vanessa. Looking away from the older man, I spare a glance toward Daryl who knits his brows at the question. Looking down, I remove my hand from Daryl's as I begin to rack my mind for something to say. I remember all of it, up until I passed out.

      "I was holding Thalia, we were standing next to Axel when he got shot," I explain, signing the words as my throat feels raw from the amount of talking I did along with the screaming. I didn't trust myself to look toward Daryl, not knowing if he knew that Thalia had been out there during all of that. "I used his body to shield mine while I curled around her. She was crying, I remember my heart racing as I panicked. I didn't know what to do so I found a clearing and ran toward the cellblock. The entire time I shielded her, even when I had gotten shot. I don't know when the bullets stopped, but Beth took Thalia while Maggie and Nessa grabbed me. Is she okay? Thalia?"

      "Thalia is fine. Not even a scratch. We looked her over," Vanessa informs as she leans against the table, folding her arms over her chest with ease. She looks down at me, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Beth saw you go down, said that you twisted your body to prevent yourself from falling on her which stopped Thalia from ever hitting the ground."

      "The bullet nicked an artery, so Vanessa had to cut you open to close it while I worked on getting the bullet fragments out," Hershel explains while he folds his hands over his amputated stump. His blue eyes look at me with worry, almost as if I was his daughter who had gotten shot and almost died. "You're lucky to be alive, Katherine. Doing what you just did could have undone all of it."

      "You need to rest for a few days. No getting up, no moving and no lifting anything heavier than Thalia."

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      Hershel and Vanessa had been strict with their orders, forcing the others to tend to everything I needed. I haven't been able to leave the cell at all in the last few hours. They had moved the broken down laundry basket in here, so that Thalia could be with me — as she still needed to eat and be cared for. Daryl has been in and out of the cell, tending to me before going off to talk to Merle or the others.

He wanted to be with me but I had forced him to go help the others with whatever it is they needed help with. They needed him more than I needed him at the moment. Thalia rests on the bed next to me, sleeping soundly wrapped in a yellow blanket. Her pink lips were parted, no doubt snoring in her sleep as she occasionally does the startled movement.

Seeing a shadow looming on the foot of my bed, I look up to see that Merle is standing at the doorway with Daryl next to him. Shifting myself to where I sat upright carefully, wincing as pain shoots through me, I motion for them to come in. I watch Merle's every move as he walks further into the cell, sitting down in the chair that Daryl once occupied. Glancing toward my husband, he continues to stand at the doorway, probably having been ordered to do so just for Merle being out of the cell.

"I don't have much time to talk to ya or else Chinese-Boy will have a hissy fit." Merle states as he rubs his hand on his jeans. Rolling my eyes at his use of words, I remained silent for a moment. While I am glad to see him alive and not having died that day in Atlanta, I am still very pissed at what he had done to Glenn and Maggie. "He's Korean," I correct, my eyes narrowing as I look toward my brother in-law. "His name is Glenn, quit trying to insult him. He wasn't the one doing the beating."

"Whatever," Merle mutters, rolling his own eyes at my hostility toward him. What did he expect? A warm welcome after everything he did and caused? "I heard you're finally a Dixon. 'Bout damn time my baby brother grew some balls. Everyone could see it from a mile away. Man followed you around like a lost puppy."

"Shut up." "He isn't wrong."

"You have a niece now, two of 'em," I say softly, my throat still scratchy from screaming and not really drinking anything. Merle's eyes seemed to light up a bit at the words that left my mouth, either that or the fact I am actually using my voice. "We pretty much adopted Sophia, she's ours, a Dixon. It's a whole story on how that happened, but to sum it up; Sophia and I got lost, came back, Carol didn't want the Sophia I brought back and gave her to us. She isn't that scared little girl at the Quarry anymore."

"She grew and is growing into someone who's capable of surviving this new world, alongside Carl. We taught her that," I continue, pointing between Daryl and I every now and then. Merle just sits and listens, something he almost never does. But there is a small smile on his face, one that wasn't exactly noticeable but I noticed. "I found out I was pregnant around then too. We were scared out of our damn minds, but knew this is what we wanted. Not long after we got here, the prison got overrun with walkers.... people died that day, Carol and Lori. But two people were also born. Lori was pregnant too, she had a little girl. Her name is Judith. I had a little girl that day too. Her name is Thalia Louise in honor of our mothers, would you like to hold her?"

      Merle didn't say anything as he just nodded at my question. He sits up a bit as I carefully pick Thalia off the bed, hissing as I do so. Motioning for him to take her, he stands from the chair as he ever so gently picks Thalia off my arms. Carefully, he sits back down as he stares down at his youngest niece as a tear seems to slide down his face.

      Merle Dixon looks as if he fell in love with the baby girl on his arms, soft coos seeming to leave his parted lips. I never seen him so gently, not with me and certainly not with Daryl — so this is definitely a new sight to see. Glancing over at Daryl, I watch as he pretty much hovers over Merle, unsure on how to react to his hard-headed big brother holding his pride and joy. His gaze meets mine, a small smile forming on his lips as he gives an appreciative nod.

      "Merle," I call out in an attempt to gain his attention, as I look back toward him. He lifts his gaze from Thalia's small frame, settling on my hazel eyes once more. "I want to forgive you, you are family. You'll always be family. But first you need to make this right. I don't know how and I don't care how, but you need to make this right. If not for Daryl and I, but for Sophia and Thalia. They don't deserve to see so much death and violence."

      "I don't know how." Merle admits as he continues to bounce gently to try and keep Thalia asleep. He looks down at the baby in his arms, sniffling a bit before he looks toward Daryl. The two share a look that said so much, but said nothing at all. Merle looks back toward me, his blue eyes staring into my hazel ones.

      "But I want to try and make it right."

______Word Count: 3,586

Welcome to the end of Chapter 28!

It's definitely more of a filler-type chapter and honestly, most probably will be for a bit since Katherine is in the process of not dying. But we'll still see snippets of what is happening within the prison and outside of the prison during the Governor-Rick Grimes war.

I'm so ready to get into more of the brother-sister relationship she and Merle share. I know she is upset with him now, but she is just as loyal to Merle as Daryl is — keep that in mind.

Well, until next time! Bye!

lots of love, crimson rose