In the Shallows

My eyes fluttered open to the sounds of gunfire, the agonizing pain of my head pulsing made me groan loudly against the gag that was covering my mouth. Once I regained part of my clarity, I started to freak out, where the hell was I? The last thing I remembered was being forced to follow Merle and that son of a bitch Governor. Again, I wasn't entirely sure what kind of room I was in other than it resembled the one I was in earlier with Glenn and Maggie. My heart raced, Glenn...Maggie...were they okay? I pulled on the restraints that limited my range of motion, my throat hurt from the screaming I had done prior to the blacking out.

I twisted my wrists under the rope, squealing in pain from the immense burn of the fibers rubbing harshly against my skin. I would rub my skin raw before I waited any longer and with the sounds of intense gunfire that was going outside these walls proved that I needed to get out. I had a sudden feeling in my stomach that someone was out there trying to find either myself or Glenn and Maggie. I also knew that if it was Daryl out there, there would be a whole lot of confusion and screaming. My heart panged with hurt, Daryl. I was only imagining how he was feeling right about now, not knowing where I was and if I was even alive.

I struggled for what seemed like hours, nothing seemed to work in my advantage. I hadn't been able to move a single inch of my hand from underneath the rope. I just wanted to cry, cry in frustration and anger. Out of all the terrifying situations I had gotten myself into over the past few year, this was the one that was going to break me. I was trapped in a room with no idea of what was going to become of me. All I did know was that I wanted to get out and if I got my hands on a gun, I was going to shoot every single person I could find that wasn't my own.

My head snapped up the second I heard voices and clanging, my eyes narrowed as soon as the makeshift door opened, meeting the Governor's eyes. I growled behind the gag, but it was evident and clear that he wasn't the least bit intimidated and why would anyone be? I was just some woman bound and gagged to a chair. Nothing really scary or the least bit terrifying.

"It's nice of you to finally join us, I was afraid that you would miss out on the party." He gave me a grin, one that I wanted to smack off his face. He turned to walk towards me which gave me a better look at his face, his right eye was covered in bandages and it started to make me wonder what the hell happened to him.

Following behind him were a few of his minons, also wearing the same grin. I turned my head away from him, I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of scaring the complete daylights out of me. I had no clue as to why he separated me from Glenn and Maggie and why he had a sudden interest in me. Was it because I knew Merle from before? Or did he want to use me for some type of sexual act? I didn't know and I didn't want to know, I just wanted my death to be quick and painless, something that I wouldn't have to suffer from.

"Get her ready." He spat, giving me a dirty look as he walked back out the way he came.

I started to jerk from my restraints as the three men walked towards me with a devious look in their eyes, like a little piece of the devil was present in their twinkle. I squealed against the cloth in my mouth as they grabbed me, gripping me hard with their fingertips, like they were trying to make it in their power to assert their dominance and leave marks all along my arm. Sadly for them, all the pain I had endured hours before had made my nerves numb, I hardly felt their grip on me, I could feel the pressure but the pain seemed to be nonexistent.

I struggled against them as they cut the rope from my hands and feet, my mouth was still covered with the cloth but I didn't need my mouth to make things difficult for them. I arched my back out of the chair and started to kick with everything I had in me, my energy was severely low but I had to fight, I couldn't go down without one. Daryl would revive me from the dead if he knew I just gave in that easily, he would kill me himself. I screamed out once they placed their hands over the raw skin around my wrist, their grip stuck like glue to the exposed skin. I felt that pain just fine.

I gasped for air the moment I felt them place a bag over my head, here we went again. The last time I remembered a bag being placed over my head was back when Glenn and I got kidnapped by Guillermo. Just a big misunderstanding back then but this one was nothing more than intention to probably kill. I was lifted halfway from the ground, my feet dragging behind me as they yanked me along. I cursed loudly behind the gag as my legs started to get torn up by the gravel and dirt once we were outside. My ears strained for any sign of someone that might and could help me but there was no chance of that. All I heard was the faint yelling of the Governor and crickets chirping as if the world was just as it always had been.

"....It was you. You lied, betrayed us all!" The words sounded like venom and I didn't need my eyes to know just how angry he was. "This is one of the terrorists,"

I yelped as I was shoved onto the ground, my throat grunting from their hands being ripped from my open flesh, my hands reaching out in front of me to catch my fall. I growled as he ripped off the bag from my head, my eyes finally getting the chance to see where I was. I was met with horrified and scared faces, all of them most likely manipulated into thinking that I was a terrorist.

"Don't be fooled! She may seem harmless but she is a force to be reckon with! And this is another one!" My eyes followed his point to figure being dragged just as I had been, but this person's hands were tied behind his back and the closer he got the more familiar he became. My heart stopped as he grabbed a hold of him, his hand ripped the bag off of Daryl, "Merle's own brother! And little Miss over there is an old friend of them both!"

His head snapped in my direction, the emotions of fear, relief, and anger coursed through his brows and eyes. My mouth quivered, wanting to say something but nothing came out. I couldn't believe the situation we had gotten ourselves into. Daryl glanced from me back to Merle as the crowd continued their gasps and murmurs of the current situation. I took a step forward towards him but was yanked in the opposite direction, I landed off to the side, away from the brothers that I had known for years. My eyes glanced around the crowd, falling upon a particular blonde that exhibited the same kind of look Daryl had. "Andrea?" My voice was barely louder than a whisper with the gag still in my mouth.

She was alive? How? When? My mind swirled with questions about her. I was so sure that she had died on that farm, how did she make it this long on her own and how did she manage to get tied up with the Governor?

"So what should we do with them, huh?" His voice echoed as he paced back and forth in front of them. The crowd erupted into different options, mainly to kill us, and feed us to the walkers. "What?" He taunted them, urging them to keep screaming out the words to kill, chuckling as they started to get angry and hostile. The Governor walked up towards Merle, his voice low and dark, "You wanted your brother, now you got them." Walking away he smirked as the people continued their chants and angry screams.

My eyes watered as I watched Daryl look completely vulnerable, he just stood there, his eyes scanning back and forth at the people that wanted to tear him limb from limb. I could read him like a book, so many thoughts were running through his head that nothing was making sense. Merle looked agitated, his jaw clenching and twisting from anger. My attention was drawn in a different direction, towards Andrea who was fighting to talk to the Governor, my mouth twitched as she spoke in frantic words.

He shrugged her off, ignoring her frightened words and terrified expression, pointing at Merle, he spoke loudly, "I asked you where your loyalties lie, you said here. Well, prove it. Prove it to us all. Brother against brother."

I yanked the gag away from my mouth, "What?!" I gasped, I scrambled to my feet, "No!" I was yanked back by two of the men that had brought me to the ring of the death, I started to kick at the ground, desperately trying to get to Daryl. I knew the two of them like the back of my hand, Merle could beat Daryl senseless in a matter of seconds. I squealed out, "Stop!"

"The winner goes free." He chuckled, walking towards the two brothers, "Fight to the death!" The people cheered and hollered for the two to fight till death, my heart sank and my stomach felt like it was about to climb out of the throat. This was madness and after all this time, Merle wouldn't think twice to kill his brother. Hell, he almost killed me and didn't think twice. I couldn't let this happen, I didn't want it to happen.

Merle nodded, looking towards the crowd, his arms waving in the air, "Y'all know me! I'm gonna do whatever I got to do to prove..." Merle spun around and landed his fist hard into Daryl's stomach, causing him to grunt out and keel over. "..that my loyalty is to this town!"

"Merle!" I screamed, trying once more to rush over towards Daryl but I failed miserably. Tears pricked my eyes as I watched Merle beat the man I loved with every bit of my heart. I kept struggling against their grip but with their strength and the lack of energy I had within in myself, it was no use. I was useless and that was the last thing I wanted to be. I sank to my knees and whimpered as I watched blow after blow.

"Watch out princess, don't wanna' be eaten now would ya?" The man chuckled as he yanked me away from a snarling walked they had on a catcher pole. I screamed out as they circled them with walkers, my head pounded with the snarls and growls from the dead. I screamed again as Merle pushed one of the handlers towards the men that held me captive, scooting away from them, I yelped out when I heard gun shots. I scrambled up, my body twirling around to figure out which direction it came from, shielding my eyes, smoke exploded from a makeshift weapon.

"Lex!" I felt hands grab at me, pulling me close to his body, Daryl pulled me away from the chaos, "Merle! Come on!" We started to run in whatever direction we could, my eyes spotted Rick by the dumpster, "Let's go!" Daryl pulled me along with him, practically dragging me the entire way. I tried to keep up but my legs weren't keeping up with the rest of them. I tried to focus on making them move that I drowned out the argument going on about Merle leading the way out and everyone else having a problem with it. I would have agreed but I was more focused on getting out alive before I dealt with Merle.

We finally reached one of the walls that protected the little town, Merle beat against one of the metal panels, causing it to clang and clutter, making everything echo. I shuddered to the sounds it made, only knowing what followed. Daryl grabbed me by the shoulder and shoved me through the opening, "Rick, come on, we got to go!"

"A little help would be nice!" Merle shouted out. I froze as a few too many geeks started to make they're way towards us. Maggie, Daryl, and Rick all started to fire them down, each and every single one of them. I was about to say something but Merle beat me to it, "We ain't got time for this!" We all agreed and ran off in whatever direction Merle was leading us into.

We had ran throughout the night, tripping blind in the forest and running into trees. I was getting ready to call it quits and accept my fate when we finally made it to the car. I saw Glenn and someone I didn't quite recall knowing running towards us. I smiled softly as they met up with us, it seemed like everyone was in alright shape. I was just glad to know that Glenn and Maggie were okay and not dead somewhere in that crazy town.

"Oh, thank God."

Rick sped up, his hand held out, "Now we got a problem here, I need you to back up."

Glenn and the mystery woman drew out their weapons, Glenn's face twitching with anger, his gun aimed, "What the hell is he doing here?!"

In a matter of seconds it became a chaotic mess, everyone shouting and blurting out words about Merle trying to kill so and so and everything else. I couldn't comprehend the amount of noise that came from their lips, I was still trying to recover from running that whole entire time. I needed time to recuperate and for some reason, I had a feeling that I was never going to be able to just recuperate again. It was always going to be a go go go situation.

Glenn yelled out, spit coming from his mouth like a rabid dog, "If it wasn't for him--"

"--he helped us get out of there." Daryl intervened, trying to calm him down.

Rick scoffed, "Yeah, right after he beat the shit out of you."

"Hey man, we both took our licks." Merle said, feeling slightly offended.

Daryl turned his head, rolling his eyes, "Jackass."

Merle growled, "Hey, shut up."

I groaned loudly, my brain hurting, "Stop! Enough!" I didn't know why I even tried to intervene because no one really stopped anything, they continued their little heated discussion. Rolling my eyes, I placed my hands on my head and turned around, this was like preschool.

Merle started to laugh, leaning up against the tree, "Man, look like you've gone native, brother."
I sucked in air as Daryl growled back, "No more than you hangin' out with that psycho back there." I was instantly thrown back in time when the two of them would bicker of beer and stupid things."

"Oh, yeah, man. He is a charmer, I got to tell you that, been puttin' the wood to your girlfriend Andrea, big time baby." He glanced at the mystery woman and faked a moan, something told me the two of them didn't get along aside from the fact that he tried to kill her.

"What?" Glenn asked, his face relaxing, "Andrea's in Woodbury?"

Daryl nodded, looking down at the ground, "Right next to the Governor."

"You know Andrea?" Rick asked her, he asked again, a little impatient when she didn't answer.

"Yep, she does. Her and blondie spent all winter together, cuddlin' all up in the forest. Mmm-mmm, yeah. My Nubian queen had two pet walkers, no arms, cut off the jaws, kept them in chains. Kind of ironic now that I think about it." Merle sure knew how to get on someone nerves in just a matter of a few words. If it weren't for his little stunt of almost killing me, I might have looked past his ignorance but I just wanted to shoot him in the damn mouth.

"Shut up, bro!" Daryl snapped.

Merle shrugged, "Hey, man, we snagged them out of the woods. Andrea was close to dying."

Maggie rose a brow, her jaw locked, "Is that why she's with him?"

"Yeah. Snug as two little bugs, so what you gonna' do now, Sheriff, huh? Surrounded by a bunch of liars, thugs, and cowards."

"Shut up," Rick spat, his mouth twitching, I could already sense that he was just as close to shooting him as Glenn was.

Merle never did know when to take direction or hints, "Oh, man, look at this. Pathetic. All these guns and no bullets in them."

"Merle, shut up!"

"Shut up yourself! Bunch of pussies you roll--" Just as quickly as he opened his mouth, he was out. Thanks to Rick who just wacked him in the head with his gun, it would give us a few minutes of peace and quiet and enough time to figure out what we were going to do at this point.

I slumped down by the nearest tree and took a deep breath, all I wanted was to go to the prison and sleep for the next few days but after knowing that the Governor knew where we were, there was no safety there. Closing my eyes for just a moment, I started to think about the others, if they were okay, they had to be okay. They snapped open, "How's the baby?!"