Fighter

So this is it, then, huh? This is how I die?

She couldn’t believe it. For weeks, she had been on her own. Ever since she got separated from her group. The second she grouped up again, this shit happened. She never should have helped that son of a bitch. She knew that he would turn around and bite her in the ass. She just didn’t think that she would fall for it a second time. She never should’ve went to that God-forsaken city. Never would’ve. But he always said Atlanta. Little did the two of them now, it was already overrun. She didn’t even know if he was alive. Of course, she’d hoped, but hope doesn’t get you very far anymore.

She was hungry. She was more than thirsty. The dead in the other room were starting to smell worse than ever. Her leg was bad, too. The blood loss was making her feel light-headed. She couldn’t feel the cut. Not over her growling stomach and burning, dry throat. Her eyes felt heavy. She was going to die. At least now, she wouldn’t have to live in this hell hole anymore. This would be the way to go: bleeding out instead of being eaten alive.

She took a deep breath and let her eyelids fall. There was no point in fighting. She was too hungry, too thirsty, and way too tired of trying. Her eyes couldn’t have been shut for more than ten minutes before she head the outside door creak open.

“Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches. One handed.” It was a deep southern drawl. One that she would know anywhere. She opened her mouth to try and call out to him. Nothing came out. She tried to make some spit in her mouth to moisten (I know we all hate that word, I’m sorry) her mouth somewhat. “Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer, he’d crap out nails.” He continued. I felt the ground move slightly as someone got closer to my hiding place.

“Any man can pass out from blood loss.” This was the closest voice, “No matter how tough he is.” The closet door opened and the light shown in. She closed her eyes, shielding the brightness. As her eyes adjusted, she noticed the man dressed as a cop had his gun cocked and pointed at me. She looked at him, pleadingly.

“Daryl.” She managed to whisper, not nearly loud enough for anyone to hear. “Daryl Dixon.” She tried again, louder this time.

“Daryl.” The cop called, urgently.

“Whacha got, Rick?” he asked. She heard his footsteps approach. ‘Rick’ gestured to the woman with the barrel of his gun.

“She knows your name.” Rick answered, moving out of the way. When Daryl came into view, she smiled, knowing she’d been saved. Knowing that he’d help her.

“Isabell?” he questioned. Daryl couldn’t believe what was in front of him right now. He was told that she was dead.

“Daryl.” she sighed again, closing her eyes. Daryl squat down to her level, shaking her lightly.

“Uh-uh, Izzy, you gotta stay awake.” He turned behind him. “China-Boy.” Daryl called. “Water.” ‘China-Boy appeared, mumbling something about Korea and rifling through a backpack. He threw Daryl a water bottle, who caught it effortlessly. He unscrewed the cap and helped the girl to drink it. Even though the water was warm, it felt great going down her bone dry throat. She tried to sit up more when he pulled the water away, but She couldn’t push pressure on her cut leg.

“Son of a bitch!” she cursed between her teeth. Daryl’s eyes shot to her leg.

“Shit, Iz, wha’d you do?” He asked, pouring a little bit of water over her cut to clean the dry blood.

“Fucking Merle.” She answered, as he ripped off a strip of fabric from her shirt, exposing her midriff. He tied that around her cut. She hissed in pain.

“C’mon, Izzy. Don’t be no wimp.”

Isabell scoffed, closing her eyes, tight, trying not to focus on the pain that was shooting up her leg. “You’d be doin’ the same if you got hit with a saw.” She coughed, reaching for the water. She drank half of what was left before Daryl took it away from her. “Hey!” she objected.

“You said Merle did this?”

Isabell shook her head. “Not directly. Stupid bastard was handcuffed to the roof, ‘bout to get eat by the dead. I took ‘em out and found him.”

“And the cut?” Daryl asked, wanting to make sure that it wasn’t a bite.

“I found a saw. Tried to saw the ‘cuffs. Damn thing was too dull and I was pushin’ too hard.” She shrugged. “Just slipped, I guess.”

“Do ya know where he went?” Daryl asked.

Isabell shook her head. “I’m sure he couldn’t have gone far. He was bleedin’ a lot.”

Daryl nodded, and held out a hand for me to take it. Isabell pouted. She didn’t want to stand. Her leg was too bad. She didn’t want to be in pain. “C’mon, Iz. We gotta get outta here or we’re walker bait.” She took a deep breath, and nodded, taking his hand. Leave it to Daryl to push Isabell and make her stronger. She missed that about him. Isabell stood with his help and felt that her leg wasn’t as bad as she remembered. She wanted to step forward, to hug him, but he pushed me away. “Merle shouldn’t be too far then. We gotta find ‘im ‘fore he – ”

“Hell, no!” She protested, interrupting Daryl.

“What?” Daryl questioned, giving her a hard stare.

“I said, no. I’m not rescuing his sorry ass.”

“Isabell, that’s my brother.” He said, pointing towards the office door.

“I don’t care who he is.” She glared. “You don’t see it, do ya?” She scoffed. Isabell gestured to the closet she was hiding in. “Look around! Do you see any of my supplies? Scraps? Empty water bottles?” The others in Daryl’s group stood back, unsure of what to do. “I helped Merle outta those ‘cuffs, injurin’ myself in the process and the bastard took my stuff and left me for dead. Again.” Isabell stressed. Neither of them said anything for a moment. After the silence, Daryl scoffed at her and walked out of the room shouting for his brother. Isabel groaned. “Stupid hillbilly.” She mumbled, looking to the others. They stood back at a safe distance. “Y’all can stop freakin’ out. I ain’t bit.”

Rick cleared his throat and stepped forward. “How do you know Daryl?” he questioned.

Isabell laughed to herself. “It’s a long story, Sheriff.” She admitted. He continued to stare at her, obviously not accepting her answer. Isabell sighed and rolled her eyes. “He’s my best friend. Known each other since we were tykes. Happy?” Rick nodded, leaving China-Boy and a black man in the room. “Hey, China.” She called. He looked to her with an almost annoyed look. “You mind helpin’ a lady out?” she smirked, flirtatiously. He looked to the black man who gave him a shrug. “Aw, c’mon. I can’t hardly walk. And you already left Merle back here to die. I’m sure Daryl might actually kill you if you left me behind.” China slumped and walked over to her. She put an arm around his shoulders. “Thanks, China.”

“It’s Glenn.” Isabell double-taked to him.

“Glenn?” she asked to clarify. He nodded. “Alright, Glenn. I’m Isabell. Or Iz. Whatever blows your skirt up.”

“This is T-Dog.” He told her, moving his head towards the black man. Isabell nodded, not really knowing what else to say. Glenn helped her down the stairs into a kitchen. Daryl was shouting for his brother in the next room. Isabell rolled her eyes, looking around for food. There wasn’t any. Isabell pouted. Glenn noticed her struggle and pulled away from her. She stumbled. T-Dog caught her arm before she fell to the floor. Glenn apologized for letting her go by handing her a granola bar. Isabell greedily ripped it open and took a small bite, destined to enjoy the snack.

“Merle!” Isabell’s heave was interrupted by Daryl joined them in the kitchen with Rick Isabell shushed Daryl, earning a glare from him.

Rick agreed with her. “We’re not alone here, remember?”

“Screw that!” Daryl protested. “He could be bleeding out.” He turned to his friend. “You said so yourself.”

Isabell nodded. “I did. But I didn’t mean it as a bad thing.” The corners of his mouth tightened. “You and I both know that he’s a pain in the ass. You really think he’s got your best interests in mind?” Isabell’s eyes shot to the stove that was lit. She hobbled over to the appliance, noticing some sort of iron with something melted on it as well as a familiar belt. “Daryl, this is his.” She said, holding the belt out to him. “We pulled it tight around his arm, so he wouldn’t bleed much.” Daryl took the belt from her and looked at the unknown object.

“What’s that?” he asked. Isabell shrugged. Rick came up and took a look for himself.

Rick shook his head. “It’s skin. He cauterized the stump. Closed it up.”

“Son of a bitch.” Isabell said, exasperated.

“Told you he was tough.” Daryl argued. “Nobody can kill Merle, but Merle.”

“D, hold on.” Isabell calmed him. “He lost a lot of blood.” He stared at her almost lost. Isabell bit her lip when she realized that he probably doesn’t have any of these guys call him D.

“Guys.” T-Dog called. Everyone turned to see him standing next to a broken window. “None of that stopped him room bustin’ out.” Isabell shook her head, not believing Merle’s resilience.

“He left the building?” Glenn questioned. “Why the hell would he do that?”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Daryl pushed. “He’s out there. He’s doin’ what he’s gotta do. Survivin’.” Isabell limped over to Daryl’s side and put a hand on his arm. His muscle instantly relaxed under her touch.

“Can I talk to you?” she asked. Daryl stared at her face, expressionless. She practically begged him with her own facial expression. His eyes moved to Rick. Hers followed them.

“Five minutes.” Rick ordered. “Then we gotta move on. Those guns hold priority now.” Daryl and Isabell nodded. The others shuffled out of the room. Glenn was grabbed things that he would find useful along the way. After they were cleared out, Daryl wouldn’t say anything to Isabell.

“Will you say something?” She questioned. “‘I’m glad you’re okay.’ Hug me. I’m good with just ‘bout anythin’.” She begged. Daryl looked at her for a second then started to pace the room. Isabell groaned. “Daryl!”

Daryl stopped and walked over to me. He wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulder. She smiled into his chest, wrapping her arms around him. “He said you was dead. You were dead, that’s why I didn’t go back.”

“I figured Merle told you that.” She pulled away from him. “The look on your face when you saw me, told me exactly wha’ happened. You looked like you’d seen a ghost.”

“Shut up.” he said, almost angrily. He pulled out of her grasp. I wanted to go back to ya.” He said, shyly. “I wanted ta save – ”

“I’m glad that you didn’t.” Isabell interrupted. He turned back to her, confused. She shrugged. “None of us woulda made it outta there alive. I barely did.” She pulled up her sleeve o show him a few scars. “They aren’t bites. I wear sleeves so people I come ‘cross don’t kill me on the spot. They’re from climbin’ my ass outta there.”

He turned away. “I’m sorry.”

Isabell laughed. “You underestimate me, D. I am more than capable of lookin’ after myself.” He faced her again. “I woulda, too. After I didn’t find you right away, I came here. ‘Cause that’s what you said. When I got here and saw how overrun it was, I gave up hope. Then I found Merle on the roof. And he said you were alive and close. He said he’d bring you back here for help. But that was this morning. He said, it would take a few hours. But three hours turned to five and seven. Merle left me with nothin’.” Isabell told him. “I was so hungry. So thirsty. My leg was too painful. There was no way I’d be leavin’ that closet alive. I wouldn’t ever find you. Call it sappy all you want, but the only thing I could think about was you.” she paused, feeling water sting her eyes. “And her.” she swallowed. He looked up at Isabell, painfully. He felt exactly what she did. He didn’t have to say it. Isabell knew how he felt about her.

“Don’t you dare bring that up.” He ordered out of anger, but it was quiet and that scared her. “With all this shit, I don’ need ta be thinkin’ o’ her, too.”

“She’s safe. That’s all that matters. I just wanted to be with her. I want to be with her. more than anything.” Daryl walked over and crashed his lips to Isabell’s, stopping her from continuing my speech. He pulled away, holding her small, dirt-covered face between his large, calloused hands.

“Don’t say that.” He said, forcefully. “You’re a fighter. You needa fight your way outta this.” He used his thumbs to wipe away the tears that had fallen down her face. “Promise me.” he said, between his teeth. “Promise me you won’t stop. We can’t go back now.” Isabell nodded her head. “You and me. We’ll get through this. She wants us to.”

“And Merle?” she asked him. He released his head. “What are we gonna do about him?”

“We look around for a bit. Maybe he’s out there. He’ll find his way back to camp.”

“Camp?” Isabell questioned. “You mean, you don’t stay here in the city?”

Daryl shook his head. “‘Course not.” He exclaimed, as if it should have been obvious. “With those walkers out there, it’d never be safe. We gotta site not far from here.” Rick came back into the room.

“We gotta move.” He said. Daryl and Isabell nodded. Rick turned to her. “You good to walk? You can’t be a parta this if you’re gonna slow us down.”

“I won’t.” Isabell assured him. T-Dog and Glenn joined us back in the kitchen.

T-Dog spoke. “What are Merle’s odds out there anyway?” Daryl glared at him. Isabell grabbed his arm to hold him back from hitting the man.

“No worse than bein’ handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry bastards.”

“Wait,” Isabell pitched, “You guys ‘cuffed him up there?” Rick and T-Dog looked away. “And these are the people you sleep next to at night?” she asked Daryl. He shrugged. “I mean Merle’s a dick, but even I helped him out and he’s left me behind before.”

“It was an accident!” T-Dog defended. Everyone looked to him. “I tripped. Dropped the key. He was locked up for a reason, but we were gonna let him out.” Daryl made a move to lunge at T-Dog. Rick got in his face to stop him and Isabell grabbed his arm knowing that he wouldn’t think about fighting against her.

“I don’t blame either of you for bein’ angry at us.” Rick started. “He’s family. I get that. I went through hell to find mine.” Isabell was confused by that part.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“That’s not important right now. But I know exactly how you feel. He can’t get far with that injury. We could help you check a few more blocks around, but only if we keep a level head.”

Daryl groaned. Isabell knew that he didn’t that was enough, but it was better than nothing. Isabell elbowed him. He looked to her and she nodded at him. Daryl looked back to Rick. “I could do that.” Daryl finally agreed. There was a pause before T-Dog spoke.

“Only if we get those guns first. I’m not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?” T-Dog joked. Isabell laughed.

“So where are these guns?” she asked, smirking. “I need a little adventure in my life right about now.” Daryl looked to her, disapprovingly. It seemed that he didn’t want her to partake in any sort of adventure. It didn’t matter. Isabell would never listen to him. The five of them gathered together around the floor as Glenn started to draw a map of the surrounding area. Glenn was talking some madness about going out into the main street alone. Isabell hardly knew him and she shook her head. “There’s no way that you are going out there by yourself. There are too many walkers. You’ll never be able to cover yourself.”

“Even I think it’s a bad idea.” Daryl admitted after her. “An’ I don’ even like you much.” Glenn stared up at him in disbelief.

“It’s good idea, okay?” Glenn persuaded. “Just hear me out. If we go as a group we’ll be slower, tryin’ to keep together. If I go alone, I’ll be fast. In and out. Like always.” He put a few markers on the ground, in the map. “This is the tank. It’s five blocks from here. Bag of guns is just there. Here’s the alley I pulled you into when I found ya.” Glenn pointed to Rick. “I say Iz and me go there.” Isabell nodded, agreeing.

“Nuh-uh.” Daryl objected. “She ain’t leavin’ my sight.” She smiled at Daryl’s protectiveness.

“Alright…”Glenn waivered, slowly. “So you come with us. It’s probably best. The crossbow’s quieter than a gun, just in case we need it. While Daryl waits here, in the alley with Iz, I run up the street and grab the bag.”

Isabell shook her head, arguing. “You’re not going in that street alone. I’ll grab a knife from the kitchen and cover your ass.” She didn’t asked. She invited herself along. Isabell wasn’t about to let this kid go out there on his own. She avoided Daryl’s gaze, knowing he’d be furious.

“Where are we?” Rick asked, referring to himself and T-Dog. Glenn pointed a little down the map from where he had put himself, Isabell and Daryl.

“You two, will be in the other alley.”

“Why are we two blocks away?”

“We might not be able to get back through that alley. Walkers could block us out. We won’t get through to Daryl so Iz and I will go forward, towards you. Whatever happens, we got people on both sides. After, we’ll be sure to meet back here.”

“Damn, kid. You gotta be some sorta Einstein in the real world.” Isabell laughed.

“What’d you do before the world went to hell?” Daryl asked.

“Delivered pizzas. Why?” Glenn answered. Isabell laughed to herself.

“Well, damn.” She swore, sighing. “Alright, let’s go.” She said. Instead of having to go back to the kitchen she found an axe in a ‘break-in-case-of-emergency’ box. Isabell figured it was an emergency, so she broke the glass and stole the axe. She turned, smiling at an unhappy Daryl. They stood there as Rick passed us with T-Dog to get into position. Once the hallway was clear, Daryl opened his mouth to protest Isabell’s adventure. She stopped him from speaking. “I don’t wanna hear it, Daryl.” she pushed him away.

“You gotta hurt leg, Izzy.”

“I’ll be fine!” she insisted.

Daryl still wasn’t sold. “I said, you ain’t leavin’ my sighed, Iz. I meant it.” He grabbed Isabell’s arm. She pulled hard against him, leaving his grasp.

“I spent weeks without you, D, on my own. I think that I can handle a few minutes. Quit ya worryin’.” Daryl dropped it, knowing he wasn’t going to win. The two joined Glenn and he led them to a ladder that they started to climb down: Glenn, first, Daryl, than Isabell. Going down the ladder nearly killed her leg, but she had to fight through it. She couldn’t let it affect her, or Daryl would never let her go with Glenn. When they reached the bottom, Isabell readied the axe in her hand. Daryl loaded his crossbow.

“You’ve got some balls for a Chinaman.” Daryl said to Glenn.

“I’m Korean.” Glenn corrected.

“Whatever.” Daryl pushed off. Daryl went over to Isabell. He put a hand on her face and stared at her for a moment.

“I’ll be fine, D.” he nodded and pulled her to him to kiss her forehead.

“You fight. I’m somethin’ happens.” She nodded. She turned to Glenn, pulling away from Daryl.

“You ready?” she asked him, retying the cloth around her leg tighter. He nodded. Daryl was right behind them, ready to close the gate when they were out. Glenn and Isabell remained light on their feet as they hurried down the street towards the bag. There were walkers all around the, but none of them seemed too interested.

“Ayúdame!” Isabell heard. She glanced up and back to the gate, noticing Daryl wasn’t standing there anymore.

“Isabell!” Glenn whispered, urgently. She turned around toward him, seeing that he had grabbed the bag, but there were now walkers between them. she walked forward, swinging her axe at their heads to get to Glenn and clear a path back to the alley. When the two got back, they saw Daryl lying on the ground being hit by two of the three darker-skinned men around him. These two were bigger than the third, who stood further in the alley, looking almost afraid.

“Daryl!” she shouted and started to run for him, but one of the bigger men stopped hitting him and ran towards her, throwing her to the ground. Isabell groaned, feeling the pain of the hard ground hitting her tailbone. The other man looked up from beating Daryl and noticed the bag that Glenn was holding around his shoulder. The man grabbed at Glenn and shook him trying to get him to release his tight grasp on the bag. Isabell stayed on the ground, trying to get up, but she couldn’t. Her leg hurt, not to mention how her tailbone felt. Daryl managed to grab his crossbow and shoot towards the man who had grabbed Glenn. He got shot in the ass and she laughed at it. The man who had Glenn, grabbed him too hard, out of anger, and threw him on the ground, next to Isabell. The bag flew towards Isabell’s direction. The guy who had been fighting with Daryl saw that it was unmanned and looked between it and Isabell. She tried to crawl for it, but she couldn’t get there in time. Turns out it didn’t matter, because he was going for the blonde. The man grabbed her arms, lifting her up into the air, over his shoulder. She tried to kick him and she hit his back to get him to put her down, fighting, like Daryl had told her to. She hoped it would make it harder for him to hold her.

“Let me go, you bastard!” Isabell forced, hitting his back as hard as she could. She looked up seeing Daryl standing over the smaller boy. She heard the sound of a car start and drive up the street. Isabell panicked. “Daryl!” she shouted. “Daryl, help!” Daryl looked up from the boy. The man carried Isabell out into the street. Daryl started to chase after them, but the car had pulled up. the man pushed her into the car and quickly joined her inside it. “Daryl!” She looked at him, pleadingly, passed the man. She felt it was useless to fight anymore as the car pulled away The alley was surrounded by walkers. There was no way Daryl could keep up with the car. Isabell was taken hostage.