.・゜-: ✧☾　☽✧ :-゜・.

𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 rested her head against the side of the car parked by the abandoned road. Levi sat next to her, kicking a rock with his feet, to keep his mind occupied. Michonne paced back and forth in front of her as they waited for Rick, Daryl, and Glenn's return.

Glenn and Rick had gone back to Woodsbury after finding out that Daryl had been captured by the governor. Stella had volunteered to go with them but her father refused. Now she waited restlessly for their arrival as the sun began to rise.

She hadn't slept in several days and had no idea when the last time she ate was. Her whole body was aching and her mind was a mess. Too much had happened. Too much had been taken away from her in the last few days. Her mother, her pride but also a part of her humanity. She took a man's life for the first time last night and the image hadn't left her head since. The man deserved it, there was no doubt about it. Still, she couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Levi!" Rick shouted from the forest, making the two teens shoot up, turning to woods. The pair, along with Michonne, rushed over to their leader.

"Oh, thank God!" Stella breathed out, feeling as the worry washed off her as she saw her father along with Glenn and Daryl. But it wasn't just them. A man walked right behind them-

Merle.

Before Stella even had time to process what she was seeing, Levi shot forward with his weapon in the air. Rick and Glenn immediately stepped between him and the older Dixon brother, pushing him back.

"Hey, calm down!" Rick told the boy, who clearly didn't listen as he continued to try and push the two older men off him.

"What the hell is that animal doing here!?" Levi snapped at them. Stella too pulled out her gun, aiming it at the man's head as Michonne grabbed her katana.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Rick made a failed attempt to calm the boy down. As he continued to roar at Merle, wild with rage, Rick pulled out his gun, pointing it at the boy.

"He tried to kill us!" Levi defended his actions.

Stella tried to comprehend what she was seeing. How was he here? How could Rick allow this? She had a perfect opportunity to end the man's life as everyone was too focused on Levi and Michonne. It was a clear shot. He would deserve it. But she couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger. She wasn't sure why. Maybe since he was Daryl's brother and she knew that they meant a lot to each other. Daryl would never forgive her for it and Stella didn't wanna be the main source of pain for him. Or maybe it was because she was scared of what it would do to her. Two days ago, she would've never even considered taking a person's life, no matter what they would've done. She was frightened by the thought of becoming cold. Losing herself- doing exactly what she promised her mother to not do - change.

"If it weren't for him-" Levi continued to shout, except this time his weapon wasn't aimed at Merle. Instead it was pointed at Rick. The two were pointing their weapons at each other instead of the real threat.

"He helped us get out of there." Daryl made a hopeless attempt to calm Levi down.

"Yeah, right after he beat the shit out of you." Rick said and Stella tried to understand what side he was on.

"Hey, we both took our licks, man." Merle grinned. The same grin he wore just as he was about to execute the two teens the night before.

"Jackass," Daryl muttered to his brother before turning his attention back to Levi who kept his gun aimed at him.

"Hey shut up!" Rick roared but it didn't seem to have any effect.

"Get that thing out of my face, son!" Daryl spat at the furious Jacobs boy.

"Man, you look like you gone native, brother." The older Dixon brother chuckled at Daryl but he didn't seem to appreciate the joke as he quickly spun around to face Merle.

"No more than you hanging out with that psycho back there." He aggressively swung his arm in the air as he paced towards him.

"Oh, yeah, man. He is a charmer, I got to tell you that. Been putting the wood to your girlfriend Andrea. Big time baby." He gave Michonne a pervy look before letting out a moaning sound.

Andrea? But she died at the farm?

Stella cringed as he taunted Michonne. But why Michonne? Does she know Andrea?

"What? Andrea's in Woodbury?" Glenn frowned.

"Andrea's alive?" Stella added onto the question.

"Right next to the governor." Daryl confirmed.

"That's not all. So is the other blondie. Never met her before but she seemed to know Andrea. Think her name was Ellie something." Merle's words made every pair of eyes swiftly shift to him. "Yeah, that's right."

All this time, everyone thought she was dead but she was in Woodbury, along with the people that did horrible things to both Stella and Levi. Stella's heart sank to her stomach- Were they doing the same thing to Ellie as they did to the other teens? Suddenly, Stella's body acted by itself, launching herself toward Merle who took a quick step back. Stella pressed her gun against his forehead with her finger on the trigger as anger gripped her. No one tried to stop her. Not even Daryl. Most likely because they were all in shock by the new information.

"What did you do to her?!" Stella roared. This time, Merle didn't seem to find the situation amusing since his big grin had tranformed into a thin line.

Rick must have snapped out of his trance as he grabbed his daughter, pulling her back. "Now's not the time." He said, just quiet enough for Stella to hear.

"I swear to God, if you or your lunatic buddy laid a hand on her I'll kill you." Pure anger and hatred overpowered her and her eyes were shooting daggers Merle's way.

"She's unharmed. She's getting real cozy up in Woodbury though- with the governor's son." Merle's grin appeared back on his face.

___________________

"It won't work." Rick said. He, along with Glenn, Levi and Stella listened as Daryl tried to argue for Merle to come back to prison with them- an idea that Levi wasn't very fond of.

"It's gotta." Daryl said. "Look, the governor is probably on the way to the prison right now. Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle."

"I'm not having him at the prison. He should be glad I haven't put a bullet in his head already." Stella spoke up.

"Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block as Carol, Maggie or Beth?" Levi said.

"He ain't a rapist." Daryl argued.

"Well, his buddy is." Levi said. Like it was the most casual thing. Stella hoped that his word's wouldn't get followed by a bunch of questions. She was ashamed. Even though she knew she souldn't be, she couldn't help but feel humiliated. She thought it was better if no one else found out. If her dad did, he'd do anything to kill the governor- even if it meant putting his own life in danger. Everyone finding out wouldn't undo the things that happened in Woodbury. It would just make things worse. Stella was already fed up with everyone giving her sympathetic stares or always tip-toeing around her in case she'd have another break down. She hated the way the room always fell silent as she walked inside.

"They ain't buddies no more. Not after last night." Daryl said.

"Why are we even arguing about this? We have to go back. Ellie's there." Stella said.

"Look, I promise we will go back for her but we need to get Levi home first. For all we know the governor might be at the prison right now." Rick told Stella.

"I'll go to woodbury myself then. I'll take the ninja girl with me." Stella said nodding towards Michonne.

"And do what? Get captured again? No way." Levi shook his head placing his hands to his sides.

"Levi, this is Ellie we're talking about." Stella turned to the boy.

"We'll get her back. But first we need to get you back." He argued.

"I'm not even hurt. I can do it."

"Stella," Her father started, knowing that Stella was in no position to go back. As much as he cared for Ellie and wanted her back safe he had to get his daughter back home. He needed to make sure that the prison wasn't under an attack right now. "I'll go get her as soon as you get back to the prison, I promise."

The Grimes girl stared at her father knowing, deep down, that what he was doing was right. "Let's go home. Leave Merle here." Stella said.

"I can't just leave him." Daryl raised his voice.

"There's no way Merle's gonna live there without putting everyone at each other's throats." Rick shook his head.

"So, we're gonna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us?" Daryl questioned, referring to Michonne who stood leaned against the car a couple of feet away from the rest of the group.

"She's not coming back." Rick said.

"She's not in a state to be on her own." Stella said. "I mean, she did bring you guys to us.
There was a huge difference between Michonne and Merle. Michonne had told her the story of how she met the rest of the group. How she brought the baby formula back to the prison and helped Rick and the other's to get into Woodbury. Her intentions were good unlike Merle.

"And then ditched us." Rick stated.

"At least let Hershel stitch her up." Stella tried to reason with the man.

"She's too unpredictable."

"That's right." Daryl agreed. "We don't even know who she is. But Merle. Merle's blood."

"No, Merle is your blood. My blood, my family is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison. And you're part of that family." Levi said, making Daryl look at him. "But he, he's not."

Daryl glanced over to his older brother who had been forced to stay in the forest as they discussed what to do with him. He leaned his arm against a tree as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Man, ya'll don't know." Daryl muttered. He stared at Rick for a moment of silence. "Fine. We'll fend for ourselves."

"That's not what I was saying." Levi shook his head.

"No him, no me." Daryl said calmly.

"Daryl, please, you don't have to do that." Stella said. However she new that if it was her in that situation, she would leave with Carl and her baby sister without hesitation. But she couldn't imagine anyone wanting to leave for someone like Merle, family or not.

"It's always been Merle and I before this."

"Don't." Stella tried.

"Are you serious? You just gonna leave like that?!" Levi took a step closer to the man.

"You'd do the same thing." Daryl's words made Levi take a deep breath knowing that he was right. If it was Astrid he'd leave in a heartbeat.

"What do you want us to tell Carol?" Stella asked, making Daryl shrug.

"She'll understand. Say goodbye to little ass kicker for me." He said giving them one final look before turning to his older brother without even looking back.

"Are you serious?" They called out for him but he continued to walk like he didn't hear them. Rick hurried after him, trying to reason with him but Daryl didn't seem to listen. Instead he just headed for the parked car before opening the boot to grab his bag. He closed it roughly making a loud bang echo between the trees before he took off into the woods.

"Daryl!" Merle cheered, wrapping his arm over his brother's shoulder. Daryl looked back for a final time before the two Dixon men set off into the forest, leaving the others to stare resigned as they disappeared out of sight.

___________________

Rick allowed Michonne to follow them back to the prison to get her stitched up. Stella hoped that she could convince him to let her stay. She didn't know much about the woman but from what she's learned she seemed to be on their side. Stella had also learned that Michonne did know Andrea. Apparently Michonne had found and saved her after the fall of the farm and that the two had survived together during the winter before the governor brought them in.

Rick stopped the car in front of what was left of a crashed truck with a fallen tree blocking the road. Glenn was forced to stay in the car to keep an eye on Michonne as the two teens and Rick emerged from the vehicle. Rick and Stella moved to the hood of the crashed wreck, ready to push as Levi went to start it. The boy opened the door and Stella watched as a walker bloated through it, reaching for Levi. Before the two Grimes family members had anytime to react, the boy grabbed hold of the dead's shirt, shoving it to the ground before using his foot to strike repeatedly at its head until there was nothing left of it. Rick and Stella stared at him with their eyes widened, both knowing that whatever Levi was doing wasn't an act of defense. It was an act of pure anger.

Once the boy was done he backed away slowly without meeting the other's eyes. Rick moved toward the boy at a slow pace as he stared at him with eyes opened to their absolute limits and his head cocked to the side. Stella rounded the car and watched as Levi panted, struggling to control the burning anger within him.

"You didn't kill him." The boy finally said as he looked up at the older man, almost with destain. Rick let out a huff of air, staring blankly at Levi before slowly shaking his head.

"That's not why we went back."

"No, that's right. You went back for Daryl. And now he's gone and the governor is still alive." Levi's tone had gotten clearly louder and more aggressive.

"Daryl was the priority." Rick tried to keep a firm voice.

"I should've gone with you." Levi argued.

"You were in no condition." Rick stated the obvious. "You could barely walk!"

"That wouldn't matter. All that matters is that that son of a bitch is dead. And you call yourself our leader." Levi scoffed.

"Levi?" Stella frowned. She recognized his look and the way he was acting. It reminded her of the night in the boiler room. She could tell that he was letting his anger take control of his words.

"Levi, I need you to calm down-" Rick was cut off.

"Calm down?! How can you say that? Do you know what he did to her?!" Levi snapped, pointing to Stella who suddenly felt like she was gonna sink through the ground. Rick's head spun around and he stared at his daughter with a grimace.

"Levi this isn't about us." Stella gave the younger boy a pleading look, begging him to calm down before he said something he'd regret.

"How could you let him live after what he did to her?!" Words spewed from Levi's mouth but Rick didn't even hear him. His attention had permanently turned to his daughter.

"Stella, what did-?" The father didn't even finish the sentence, frightened by the answer. Rick's eyes traveled over his daughter. She was wearing Levi's shirt and bruises around her neck and wrists. He stumbled over to her, bringing his hand to the side of her face, tilting her head up to examine the blue mark around her neck.

"I already told you. I'm fine. It's nothing." Stella said. "Can we go now?"

"What did he do?" Rick managed to ask as his hand traveled to her arms, bringing them up to reveal the bruises on her wrists.

Stella bit on the inside of her lip knowing that she couldn't linger her way out of the question. She looked away, keeping her gaze plastered on the trees as she tried to suppress her tears.

"Stella?" Rick's voice broke making a single tear fall from the girl's eye.

"I didn't want to. I tried to make him stop." Her voice was croaky from the struggle against the burning tears in her eyes. "He said he'd kill Levi if I didn't."

Rick's face lost all its color. He brought his daughter into an embrace, hugging her tight as if life itself depended on it. All emotions pulsed through him in that moment. He was overcome with a burning sensation of failure. He couldn't protect her. He wasn't there to save her fast enough. He could've prevented this. He wasn't there when Stella left. Instead he fled into the tombs. His eyes pooled with tears, feeling as his heart shattered into million pieces knowing what the governor had gone to his daughter. Just the thought of him laying his eyes on her made every piece of him shatter. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to go back. Make more damage on Woodbury. Kill all the governors men himself before burning the whole town to the ground, along with the governor. Anger and hatred thrummed through his veins.

"Did he..?" Rick whispered in Stella's ear only loud enough for her to hear.

"No. I promise." The girl cried against her father's shoulder as she clung onto him for dear life.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you." Rick unraveled from the hug and cupped Stella's face hin his hands as he stared deep into her eyes, using his thumbs to wipe the tears on her cheeks. "I'll take care of this. I promise. I'll do anything."

Stella hated those words. She knew that Rick meant it. He would really do anything to get vengeance on the governor. But she didn't want that. The governor's life wasn't worth her father's blood. Stella knew what this meant. This meant war.

________________________

Stella practically flew out of the green car as it parked inside the prison's gates. She let out a relieved sigh when she saw that the prison, their home, was intact and hadn't been attacked by the governor. She let out another, even louder relieved breath when she saw Carl. All her features were lit up upon the sight of her brother. After what had just happened to her she didn't think that a smile would appear on her face for a while. But she was wrong. A bright smile was brought to her by one of the only good things in this world, her siblings. As soon as they parked the car he came running alongside Carol.

"Thank God," Stella breathed out as Carl jumped into her embrace. She lifted his hat to place a kiss on the top of her brother's head.

As the girl turned back around she saw Carol, desperately searching through the windows of the car to find Daryl.

"Where's Daryl?" Her voice revealed the concern and worry she felt. Stella took this as a peek to leave the two adults to talk. She placed a hand on Carl's back as the two siblings turned around to head for the prison.

Stella followed Glenn and Maggie who helped Levi inside. As they passed through the main cell block she saw a group of new faces but she didn't even bother to ask about it. The only thing on her mind was her determination to get Levi to Hershel and go check on her baby sister.

As they opened the door to their cellblock her eyes immediately locked on Beth who came at them with the baby in her hands. Stella rushed over to hold her baby sister. Now she knew that she didn't only have to protect her from the walkers, but the people. The walkers you could outrun or kill. They were predictable. Humans weren't. Someone you knew, someone you've lived with could turn on you. Kidnap you and bring you to your very own self destruction.

Stella looked up at Beth and remembered what she had heard about Ellie. The news of her still being alive would've been amazing news if it didn't mean that she was in Woodbury. She wasn't sure what was worse. Stella wanted to believe that they hadn't hurt Ellie since she was only a child but she couldn't be sure. Stella was also just a child. And they hurt her.

_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____
𝟑𝟒𝟕𝟑 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____

𝐀/𝐍

ELLIE'S BACCKKKKK

NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE ABOUT ELLIE SO GET READY!

also this chapter might have a few mistakes or weird sentences but I didn't proof read it