Not Desperate

Holding Out for a Hero

As soon as Joe left the room, Merle scooted his chair closer to Daryl. He was able to get close enough to where their knees were touching. He leaned in as far as he could and spoke to him. “Little brother, you gotta wake up. This here situation ain’t good. They got Carol and Sophia. Joe thinks he’s gonna kill me. I don’t know about your woman, but I can guess that Len’s got her. You gotta wake up Daryl. We gotta get the fuck up outta here and save our families.” Daryl must have heard his voice because he stared to moan in pain.
“Merle, where the fuck are we? What the fuck happened to you?” Daryl asked, his voice harsh and raw.
“Joe found the cabin brother. He was waiting for us by the creek. Bastard shot me in the shoulder and the leg. When I woke up, I’s here. This is the building he wanted to blow up.”
“I gotta find Yvonne. Len and Shane are fuckin’ cousins’ man. They’s blood. That’s why he’s been after my ass. He’s helping Len get to her. He was following her yesterday, in Woodbury. Sitting right outside her damn house. Probably knows where she works, knows about Michael. Gotta find her, gotta save her. I love her Merle; can’t live without her.”
“I know what you’re saying baby brother. I married Carol this morning. She’s my wife now. I got me a wife and a daughter and as soon as this shits over, that little girl’s gonna be an official Dixon. She’s gonna have my last name.”
“Shit Merle, congratulation. I knew ya loved her, I knew she loved you too. If it weren’t for these disease-ridden, motherless bastards ya’ll woulda never been apart. Probably had your own brood by now.”
“You’re right baby brother. Now we gotta figure out how to get outta here and get our women. Neither one of us is fit to fight, but if I can get my bayonette back, I can do a little bit of damage.”
“I can’t hardly breathe Merle, that fucker got me in the chest. Oh shit! Merle . . . .he killed ‘em, they’re dead!”
“Who killed who Daryl?”
“Shane, he killed T and Rick. T was in the garage, had blood all over him. Rick pushed me down when he tried to stab me the first time. He got in the way and Shane got him in the chest. Shit Merle, I saw it!”
“Calm down now. We ain’t gonna be able to do shit if we can’t relax our minds. Boy, we need to clear out heads, be all Zen and shit. Gotta think of a way to get outta here.”
Daryl suddenly had a flash of memory. “I got it. I know what we can do. Saw this in a movie once. The first one I ever saw with Yvonne. It worked for them Irish boys, maybe it’ll work for us too.”

Michael was beside himself. It was after seven o’clock and he had neither seen nor heard from his mom. He knew that Daryl was picking her up from work and them picking him up to go to his cabin. “Mrs. Franklin, have you heard from my mom?”
“No honey, not yet. Maybe she stopped at the store?”
“No, she didn’t go to the store. Daryl was picking her up, then they were coming here to get me and we were going to spend a few days in the woods. Daryl said there are some bad guys out there and that mom and I are supposed to be real careful. What if the bad guys got them?”
“I’m sure everything’s okay Michael, but I’ll call your mom’s cell phone and find out what’s going on.” The call went straight to voicemail, so she left a message. Twenty minutes later and still nothing, so she sent a text. Yvonne didn’t respond to that either. An hour after the first call she really did begin to worry. She gathered up the boys and drove to the police station. When they arrived, they spoke to Officer Blake. He listened to everything Michael told him and although they couldn’t file a missing persons report just yet, he agreed to drive to the diner and check it out. “Tell ya what Michael,” the officer said. “I’m gonna take my patrol car and drive up by the diner. I’ll check it out and radio back here to the station, okay?”
“Okay. Please find my mom. Daryl said the bad guys are after them.”
“Who’s Daryl?” Blake asked.
“Daryl Dixon, he’s my mom’s boyfriend. He lives in Senoia.”
“Senoia, huh. I got a friend who’s a sheriff’s deputy there. Don’t worry son, we’ll find your mom and she’ll be just fine.” Michael watched the officer walk out the front door and leave in his police car. He went with Caleb and Mrs. Franklin to the waiting room and waited.

Carol’s arms were numb now. Tony had dragged her and Sophia from the truck and put them in Joe’s. Joe had thrown Merle into his own and driven off. Tony drove them up the road to the cabin. With none of them having a key, he kicked the door off its hinges and pulled them across the threshold. He zip tied their hands and feet and shoved dirty rags in their mouths. While Carol had been able to stay somewhat calm, Sophia had not She hadn’t stopped screaming and crying from the time she saw Merle shot to when Tony shoved the rag in her mouth. “I ain’t gonna hurt neither one of ya. Gonna keep a safe. What happens to Merle is outta my hands, but I ain’t gonna let Joe hurt ya. He aims to kill ‘em and he’s planning on coming to get ya when it’s done. If ya’ll can hold your shit together for a little while longer, I can figure this out.” He went into the kitchen and found some cans of peaches in the cabinet. He grabbed them and some bottles of water. “We gonna sit here and work it out. To be honest, I don’t give a shit about Merle, but I ain’t gonna let Joe hurt you or your kid. I’ll get ya’ll outta this.”

When Officer Blake arrived at the diner, nothing looked unusual. He drove into the parking lot and got out of his vehicle drawing his weapon and his flashlight, just in case. The first thing he found was a broken cell phone. It had been shattered in a million pieces, like it had been run over. He walked past it and his light fell upon a hand. There on the pavement lay the bodies of a young blonde girl and a young man. He checked them both for a pulse and after finding one for both, he called for an ambulance and then backup. From the description the boy had given for his mother, he didn’t believe this to be her. The EMTs confirmed both victims were still living and rushed them to the local medical center. Phillip Blake did not want to tell that little boy that he was unable to find his mother. He remembered the name Dixon, he had heard it before. He called the Senoia sheriff’s department to talk to his friend Rick. The deputy that answered the phone, informed him that Rick had been taken to Grady Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Phillip then asked if they had any incident reports involving Daryl Dixon or Yvonne Bradley. The woman on the other end of the line said that the incident involving Deputy Grimes’ injury directly involved Mr. Dixon and his present location was unknown. Phillip knew that Rick may have answers and decided to take the boy to Senoia.

Yvonne smelled mildew. She couldn’t see anything, but she could smell wet, dank mildew. She thought she might be in a basement or dungeon. She was lying down with her arms stretched above her head, her legs spread and tied to something. She tried to speak, but her mouth was so dry that she couldn’t form words. She heard footsteps, but she couldn’t tell where they were coming from. There was light coming from underneath the door and she saw the shadow of boots standing behind it. She heard the knob turn and the door creak. Light poured into the room and what she hoped had been a nightmare, was reality. Len walked in with a smile on his face. “Good to see you’re awake.” He closed and locked the door behind him before holding up a lantern. “Been waiting a long time for this. Shoulda had ya the first night I saw ya, but ya skipped out on me like a bitch. I think you been trying to make me jealous, huh? Making sure I see you ‘round town with that redneck faggot.” He sat the lantern on the floor and sat on the edge of the mattress Yvonne was tied to. It was when she felt his hands on her bare thighs that she realized she was naked, at least mostly. She knew she was wearing a bra, because she could feel the straps. She also felt his fingers rub against her panties.
“Please don’t do this,” she said hoarsely, tears forming in her eyes. “Why are you doing this?”
“That fuckhead knew you were mine. He heard me make a claim on you. He heard me talking about all the shit I wanted to do to you.” His hands went from her thighs to her stomach and continued up to her breasts. “He knows the rules. We’s known each other since we’s fourteen years old. We’ve done all kinda shit together, shit he probably never told ya about. He and I used to share women all the time, but he never had the balls to take one away from me.” He pulled down the cups of her bra to reveal her breasts and squeezed them tightly. “I woulda been willing to share you too, but he got greedy and selfish. Now you’re both gonna pay for it.”
She tried not to scream, she tried to distract him. “Where is he? Where is Daryl? How did you get his truck?”
“After Shane took him down, he took the keys to his truck. He’d left it parked at the sheriff’s station. I picked up the keys from him. Its good having family on the force. He was kind enough to give me your address.” He sat up, looming large above her, his shadow a demon in the lantern light. She closed her eyes and heard him unbuckle his belt and pull his zipper down. She began to cry, and thought of Daryl and prayed that he was alive and looking for her.

Merle had moved his chair in front of Daryl’s with his back to his brother. “Just do it pussy. You can only break one of ‘em, the other one’ll be good as new once I get my bayonette back.” Daryl carefully sat his foot against the cuffs that held Merle’s wrists. He hoped he could do it in one kick, but with all his strength gone, his only goal was to not miss his target. He pulled his knee up and slammed it home. He heard a crack, but didn’t know if it was bone or metal. It took five times before he heard the crunch of bone. Merle was in an incredible amount of pain, but kept his mouth shut. The pain was nothing, really, in comparison to losing his hand, but it still hurt like a raging bitch. As soon as he could get the cuff around his hand, he limped his way to a table in the corner where his attachment lay. After fastening it to his stump, he went to Daryl and picked the lock on his cuffs. He pulled his brother into a bear hug and was afraid to let go. He didn’t tell Daryl that this would probably be the last hug they shared. “Let’s get the fuck outta here baby brother. We gotta find our women.”
“Where we gonna look Merle? They could be anywhere.”
“First, we gotta find our way outta here with as few problems as we can find. I’ve been in this building before, just follow me.”

When Officer Blake and Michael arrived at Grady Memorial Hospital, they went straight to the Emergency Room and asked for Deputy Grimes. The nurse told him that the Deputy was being released and would be out in a few minutes. Michael had only recently stopped crying and was now only sniffling and battling a humongous headache. Rick soon emerged from the double doors and saw Michael sitting in the corner of the waiting room. Rich rushed over seeing the boy was alone. “Michael, what are you doing here? How did you get here?”
“I brought him Rick.” Phillip said from his spot at the vending machine. He walked over handing Michael his Coke.
“Phillip, what the hell are you doing here?” Rick questioned worriedly.
“This young man came into the station tonight asking me to find his mother,”
Rick knelt down and looked Michael in the eye. “The bad guys got Daryl, maybe your mom too. One of them stabbed me and shot T-Dog. He’s in surgery right now. I know you’re scared, I am too, but you’ve got to believe that I am gonna find both of them. I promise you. I’m gonna take you back to my house. You stay with Lori and Carl. Officer Blake and I are gonna go get Daryl and you momma and bring ‘em back to ya.” The three of them took Phillip’s patrol car to Rick’s house and he explained everything to Lori. He told her about Shane and Len and what they had done. She was in shock and told Rick to call her if anything happened, good or bad. When they got back into the police car, they discussed a plan. They picked a few places to check out, places that were abandoned or off the grid. He was gonna make sure, one way or another, that Shane, Len and Joe paid dearly for what they’d done.

Tony herded Carol and Sophia into Joe’s truck and headed down the dirt road. They decided on a plan they felt would keep them all safe from Joe’s wrath. He was going to drop the women off at the Sheriff’s station and hightail his ass out of the state. He knew that if Joe caught wind of what he had done, he’d lose his life. When they arrived, before stepping out of the truck, Carol thanked him for what he had done, and told him that if he ever needed her help, he would have it. She looked for Rick as soon as they came through the door. She was told that he was out on a missing person’s case and that no one had heard from him yet. She asked if she could wait for him and was told she could. Whether he was there or not didn’t really matter at the moment. The important thing now was that she and her daughter were safe inside the Sheriff’s station.

Daryl stayed close to his brother. They were quietly stalking the hallways of the abandoned building. They figured out that they were being held on the top floor and were working their way down. Merle was moving slowly and carefully keeping his bayonette in front of him. Daryl had no weapon. He had left his crossbow in his truck, and its whereabouts was currently unknown. All the hallways were quiet and uninhabited. By the time they reached the fourth floor, the brothers were in an incredible amount of pain. Daryl’s injury may have been superficial, but his chest still hurt like a bitch. He was slowing down, his breathing uneven. As they stumbled down the fourth floor hallway, Merle suddenly stopped, turning to his brother, putting a finger to his lips. He strained to hear, but there were voices coming from behind one of the doors further down the hall. They approached slowly and stood on either side of the door. The sounds were muffled, but it was arguing. Two male voices. Merle thought that one of them belonged to Joe, but the other he didn’t recognize. Daryl put his ear to the crack in the door and mouthed the word ‘Shane’. Merle pointed at himself then at the door. He slapped his brother on the shoulder and whispered, “I’m gonna take care of these motherfuckers. You go find your woman.”
“No Merle. I’m going in there with you. Shane is mine.”
“No baby brother. Yvonne is yours. You gotta find her. You gotta kill that motherfucker that touched her. I’ll take care of Shane for you. I owe you my life Daryl. Let me take this for you.”
Daryl was dumbstruck. He engulfed his brother in a bear hug. “I love you Mere. I always have, even when you were an asshole. Don’t leave me Merle. You’re all I got.”
“No I ain’t. Not anymore. You got a family of your own. You’ll make a good father and husband. Take care of mine for me. Tell Carol that I love her and always have.” He didn’t give Daryl time to respond or stop him. He pushed his brother away and went through the door. With tears in his eyes, Daryl rand down the hallway to the stairs. His chest was hurting and he was crying so hard he could hardly see where he was going. He almost missed the exit to the third floor and had to go back a few steps to get through it. He blindly made his way down the hall, focused solely on Yvonne. He wasn’t even sure he was paying attention to anything outside of his head. Then he heard it, the sounds of a struggle, muffled screams. He stopped walking and listened. He went to every door until he found the one that hid her. He knew it was her, he knew it in his soul. The woman he loved, his woman. He rattled the door handle, but it was locked. His heart pounded in his chest, his anger was taking over. He stepped back and kicked the door in. Len didn’t even hear the door crack, he didn’t know anything until Daryl grabbed him by the hair, tore him off Yvonne and threw him onto the floor. He didn’t want to look at her just yet. He knew that if he looked at her, he would break down. He had found her, now his priority was the bastard lying on the floor. He jumped on top of him and straddled his waist. “I told you motherfucker. You. Don’t. Touch. Her. Now, you’re gonna die.” Daryl reared back and began to pummel Len’s face. His fists hit so hard, he could feel and hear the bones cracking. He didn’t stop until he heard Yvonne crying.
She was still strapped to the mattress, now completely naked. She had screamed and begged him to stop touching her. When she heard the door knob shake, she prayed that it was Daryl. It wasn’t even a second between the door busting in, to Len being violently pulled off her. She could see his shadow against the wall and his fists moving furiously. She knew Daryl would kill him, and she wasn’t opposed to that, but what she really wanted right now was to be released from the mattress, put her clothes back on and get the hell out of this place. She started crying uncontrollably with the thought that Daryl was too distracted to remember she was there. She was so scared that his anger was taking over, but he did hear her crying. His fists stopped moving, he stood up and moved to the mattress on the floor. He cradled her face in is hands and gently kissed her lips, his sobs as uncontrollable as hers. Without saying a word, he untied her hands and feet. He pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair as they cried into each other. “Are you okay? I mean, did he . . . ?” he asked when he was able to speak. The question only made her cry harder and his arms tightened around her.
“Please, I just want to get dressed and get out of here,” she begged between hiccupping breaths. Daryl grabbed her clothes from around the room, realizing as he did that the only piece in tact was her jeans. He handed them to her and took off his angel wing vest, followed by his flannel shirt. He put the shirt around her shoulders and buttoned it, careful not to touch her. He helped her stand on wobbly legs and led her to the door. As he turned the knob, he heard the beaten man on the floor stir and moan. “Stay here and don’t look,” he said and turned Yvonne’s body to face the door. He went over to Len and got on his knees behind him. Pushing him up by his shoulders, Daryl put his hands on Len’s face and leaned into him, whispering in his ear. “You will never hurt another woman ever again.” The snap of his neck echoed in the tiny, darkened room. Daryl let the man’s body fall to the floor with a thud. He took Yvonne’s hand and led her from the room.

Joe and Shane stopped arguing the second they heard the door open and Merle walked inside. Shane was holding a gun to Joe and yelling about not getting his chance to finish Daryl. “Whoa there boys,” Merle said when he closed the door, Shane’s gun now pointed in his direction. “There’s no need to argue. We can talk this out like men.”
“Fuck you Dixon! I don’t give a goddamn about you. It’s your brother I want,” Shane said walking over to Merle.
“I don’t rightly know where his is right now, officer dickhead, but I know that you ain’t gonna do a damn thing to him. I come to make sure of that, personally.”
“Merle,” Joe said, interjecting, “you ain’t gonna be able to do that, what with you being dead soon and all. I’m gonna make sure of that.”
Merle straightened his stance and looked Joe in the eyes. “I know you Joe. I’ve known you for twenty-five years. I know your rules and I know what you’re capable of. I ain’t gonna beg for my life, but I’ll be damned if I ain’t gonna take you with me.” He ran towards Joe at full force, holding the bayonette in front of him. As it pierced the skin of Joe’s chest, a shot rang out from Shane’s gun, dropping both Merle and Joe to the ground. Shane stood above them both, “Looks like you got what you wanted Dixon. You got ole Joe straight in the heart with that son of a bitch. I’m gonna thank ya for that. You’ve been a real big help tonight. Now, I’m gonna find that shit ass brother of yours and I’m gonna turn his lights out too.” Shane raised his gun and shot Merle in the head.