In the Shallows

"Son of a bitch," I grunted out, my hand reaching to the side of my forehead where it had collided with the concrete floor. We had been going at this for almost ten minutes now and I swear I was starting to lose brain cells. Blood soaked my fingertips as my eyes tried to adjust from the hard impact, shaking my head in hopes to bring back my clarity, I looked up at Merle. "Go to hell." I yelped out in pain as he hovered over me, grabbing a fistful of my hair, lowering his face towards mine.

Merle chuckled, which made me sick to my stomach, only reminding me of the times where he would beat Daryl senseless for fun. "What happened to ya long hair, hm? Liked it better when it was long, so pretty. But yous always been pretty, ain't that right?" Yanking me up, my hands flew to his, trying to relieve some of the pain from my aching scalp. Throwing me against the wall, he pressed his body close to mine, "Tell me somethin', Lexi. Has Daryl gotten into these yet?" His hand hooked my belt loop which made me shiver, I never liked it when Merle touched me.

Turning around, I shoved his hand off of me, inhaling deeply, I tried my hardest to show that I wasn't scared, "Get off of me, Merle." I swallowed hard and crossed my arms, pressing my back as close to the wall as I possibly could, "Just let us go." All I wanted was to know that Glenn and Maggie were okay and to just leave this place.

"Hah, you think it's that easy? You see here, Lexi, the Governor wants answers and I'm in here tryna' get some." Taking a step closer to me, he smirked, "Already beat the shit out of the Asian boy, don't make me hurt you too." Putting his hands in submission, "All I want to know is where my baby brother is."

I growled thickly, "What did you do to Glenn?" My mouth twitched at his expression, venom oozed from my lips, "Damn it, Merle! What the fuck did you to do him?!"

Merle rubbed his jaw, his brow raised, that stupid smirk still plastered on his face, "Ooh whoa, Lexi? You kinda' hot when you get mad." Shrugging his shoulders, he glanced towards the door, "He's prolly' dead now, threw a dead--"

I lunged, I couldn't let him finish, my actions wouldn't allow me to. I had never experienced this much anger and panic at one time before, not even with Shane and I had sported some crazy moments with that fucker but Merle? He got under my skin and the fact that Glenn could be potentially dead? I lost it. My hands were flying so fast that I couldn't process the pain that came from every blow I gave Merle. It felt like minutes had passed before Merle even started to defend himself, grabbing my forearms roughly, he shoved me so hard against the concrete wall that I felt like my whole entire back rattled from the shock.

"Since when did ya start carin' for them city folk, hm?" This time venom was present in his words, his dark cold eyes drilled into mine, giving my heart an extra jolt in fear. "Why, back then, it was just you, me, and Darylina." His fingers tightened on my arms, forcing me to wince in pain as that stupid smirk crept up, "Tell me, Lexi, do you consider them folks as family now?" He scoffed, "All 'cause of what? Hm? All 'cause they help you stay safe all these days?" Smirking, he let out a howl of laughter, "Why, you dumber than I thought, Lexi. They ain't care 'bout you or Daryl. They jus' need ya, that's all. Need Darylina's wit and skills and we all know you go where he goes, ain't that right?"

I closed my eyes, Merle always did this. Always tried to pin you against those that were actually for you. That was how he worked, always making sure that whenever you made a step forward without him, he'd knock you down three. It was a shame really, he could have used those kind of skills for law or something. But, instead he was just some redneck who couldn't stand the idea of having those he semi loved doing better than him. I didn't doubt that Merle loved Daryl, in fact, I knew he did. It was just a harsher version of tough love and sometimes he took it too far, but what could you do with the way the Dixon's were brought up?

"Just, let us go." I almost begged, I was ten seconds away from pleading with every ounce of my being but my pride wouldn't allow it. I normally had a better hold on what kind of actions Merle could cook up but I was lost in a sea of fear and desperation. Opening my eyes I was met with his cold stare, it was like there was nothing left on the other side of him, like an empty abyss just waiting for something to fill it. I jumped slightly at the sound of a large knock coming from the makeshift warehouse door, cringing when he smiled.

"Come on, now. Let's go see if your brother is alive." Yanking me by one arm, he swung open the door to reveal a man with a wide smile on his face, chuckling as this man looked me up and down, "Settle, Martinez." Shoving me passed him, he lamely said, "Once the Govnernor gets what he wants, you can have her."

I gritted my teeth in anger, trying to control the amount of insults and livid behavior for sake of Glenn being alive. I needed to know, I didn't know if I could handle the idea of Glenn being mauled to death by a geek, it just wouldn't register in my brain. I'd have a hard time accepting it, especially with Carol and T-Dog not returning to our close knit family.

We walked down a few makeshift hallways, all of them being made out of metal scraps and wooden boards, I was suddenly curious to know where we were, where in the hell did these people find all this stuff. Coming up to another door, Martinez--I assume--swung open the door, Merle pushed me through the door first, probably in case that walker had lived and turned Glenn into one.

I yelped as Glenn tried to lunge for me with a broken piece of wood but he instantly retracted that action when he realized it was me, "Alex?!"

My eyes widened at the sight of his face, I tried to reach him but Merle held me back and clicked his tongue like we were in kindergarten. Shaking his head like what I was trying to do was wrong and not appropriate in this kind of situation. Struggling to break free, I growled as Martinez pointed a gun at him, "You bastard! What the hell did you do to him?!" I tried to kick and twist my body out of his grasp but it was no use, Merle was stronger and the longer I tried to fight the less time we had to try to find a way out.

Hearing shuffling towards the door, I turned my head and gasped as Maggie was being forced into the room without a shirt on. What kind of place was this? I struggled again as well as Glenn rushing forward but the gun soon left Glenn's direction and headed into Maggie's, whimpering out, I watched the color drain from both of their faces.

"We're through with games," the man holding onto Maggie spoke up, pulling out a gun, his face screamed leader. I only assumed that this was the infamous Governor, glancing at me and then Glenn, he rattled the gun in his hand as his voice dripped with seriousness, "Now one of you is gonna give up your camp."

Not a single sound was made after his threat, not from my lips or Glenn's and part of me felt like that was a mistake because the next thing I knew, I was being ripped away from Merle's grasp and placed in the Governor's arms. I hissed as he placed an arm around my neck and held the gun to my temple, hearing it click, he spoke again, "I'm not going to ask again--"

Merle frowned, "--whoa, we ain't gonna kill her, are we?"

The Governor shrugged, "If we have to, we need answers and what better way to get some then to kill one of their own?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea, boss. I mean she--"

"--don't question my tactics," shooting a warning glance towards Merle, he backed down.

Maggie jumped forward, crying out, "The prison."

"The one near Nunez?" Merle asked.

"That place is overrun."

Tears started to fall from Maggie's eyes as she glanced from me to Glenn, her mouth quivering, "We took it."

The Governor tightened his grip, the gun pressed tighter against my skin, "How many are you?"

I swallowed thickly, my hand grabbing at his arm to alleviate the pressure, closing my eyes, I mumbled out, "Eleven."

"Eleven people cleared that whole prison of biters? Huh?" He didn't seem too convinced and part of me only hoped that he didn't, just so he would stay away. He threw me to the ground and shook his head, "Well I'll be damned." Walking back towards the door, he paused, turning around, he pointed his gun towards me and motioned towards Merle, "Bring her."

My heart started to race, knowing damn well that my face showed absolute fear, "Why? You got what you wanted--"

Merle bent down, his voice a growl, "--ain't no use." His hand shot out fast and grabbed my shoulder, yanking me up, he pushed me forward towards the Governor, "Where we takin' her, boss?"

He gave me a sickening smile, one that I'm sure was supposed to be genuine but somehow got twisted along the way, "Just follow me."