CHAPTER THIRTY THREE » FAMILY
"You belong with us."

♔

My feet tangled with each other, causing me to tumble to the ground beside Glenn. He pressed his back against a cabinet, holding his side, a great deal of pain on his face.

"Rick how did you find us?" Maggie questioned as I placed my hand on Glenn's cheek, my eyes softening.

"How bad are you hurt?" I asked gently, as the conversation from the others faded into the background.

"I'll be alright."

"Where's that woman?" Maggie questioned, and I thought back to the stranger I'd seen with the group as we made our escape. I glanced around, noticing she was missing.

"She was right behind us," Olivia muttered in annoyance, storming over to the other side of the room.

"Maybe she was spotted," Rick suggested.

"Want me to go look for her?"

"No," Rick dismissed. "We gotta get them out of here. She's on her own."

"Daryl," I spoke up, catching his attention. "This was Merle."

"It was," Glenn added. "He did this."

"You saw him?" Daryl asked, hope filling his eyes as he eagerly stepped forwards.

"Face to face," I replied, pointing to my injuries. "Did this."

"Threw a walker at me," Glenn chimed in. "He was gonna execute us."

"So my brother's this governor?" Daryl looked confused, but the three of us shook our heads.

"No, it's somebody else. Your brother's his lieutenant or something," Maggie said.

"Does he know I'm still with you?"

"He does now," Glenn muttered, his voice strained. "Rick, I'm sorry. We told him where the prison was. We couldn't hold out."

"Don't. No need to apologise," Rick said sincerely, before heading over to the window and taking a look outside.

"They're gonna be looking for us. We have to get back."

"Can you walk?" Rick questioned Glenn. "We got a car a few miles out."

"I'm good." I knew that was a lie.

"All right," Rick, Maggie and I helped pull Glenn up.

"Hey, if Merle's around, I need to see him," Daryl said.

"Not now," Rick shut down. "We're in hostile territory."

"He's my brother. I ain't-"

"Look what he did," Rick cut off, lowering his voice. Daryl glanced over at Glenn and I briefly.

"Look, we gotta- we gotta get out of here now."

"Maybe I can talk to him," Daryl rushed out, causing me to scoff. "Maybe I can work something out."

"No, no, no. You're not thinking straight," Rick said, his voice lowering into a whisper, muttering words which I couldn't hear for a while. "I need you. Are you with me?"

"Yeah."

~

Gunfire.

The sound was deafening, all around us. Rick's shouts filled the air as we made our way through the open space and into a corner.

"Any grenades left, get 'em ready," Rick's voice boomed over the sounds all around us. "We gotta gun into the wall."

Maggie leaned around the corner, firing a couple of bullets.

"You guys go ahead. I'm gonna lay down some cover fire," Daryl said.

"No, we gotta stay together," Maggie shouted back.

"Too hairy. I'll be right behind ya."

"Ready?"

I took Glenn's hand as we moved out from the corner, the smoke grenades doing us a huge favour as we made our way towards a vehicle. "Go, go, go," I ushered Glenn forwards with Maggie and Olivia, despite his yells of protest.

Rick took to shooting at one side and me the other. "Daryl!" I called out, my eyes trying to scan around for any sight of him. He should have caught up by now.

Maggie's shrill screams cut through the air, and I mistakenly turned my head behind me for a moment. A shot rang out, missing me by a few lucky inches. When I turned around again, I couldn't see anyone. I frowned, confused as to where the gunshot came from until a shadow moved through the darkness. I positioned my gun again, pausing briefly when I caught a flash of a familiar face.

It felt like time slowed down, the noises all around me beginning to fade out and become fuzzy. "Mom," I whispered in disbelief, my heart racing, my chest heaving with each heavy breath I took.

"Blaire!" Rick's voice pulled me back to reality and I shook my head, ignoring what I'd just seen. I hadn't eaten or drank in hours, I must have been hallucinating. I began moving back towards the group and Rick pulled me up onto the van, where I could see over the town. I spotted Daryl in the midst of the gunfire. "Daryl!" Rick and I called out simultaneously.

"Go!" He shouted back. I shook my head, not prepared to leave this Dixon behind.

"Blaire, come on," Rick took my arm but I shook my head.

"We can't just leave him!" I protested, ripping my arm from his grip.

"He'll be okay. He'll get back in a minute."

Letting out a groan of frustration, I followed Rick over the wall and to the safety of the outside, where Glenn, Olivia and Maggie were waiting.

"Get down," Rick instructed as I realised we were missing someone other than Daryl.

"Where's Oscar?"

"Shot," Maggie replied, her eyes flickering down to the ground. Glenn groaned in pain again and I took his hand, squeezing it gently.

"Come on Daryl," Rick mumbled as a sound behind me caught my attention. The woman who'd been with them when we first escaped came into view.

"Where the hell were you?" Rick snapped. "Put your hands up. Turn around," he instructed. "Turn around," he demanded. She obliged and Rick took out her sword, his gun still pointed at her. "Get what you came for?"

"Where are the rest of your people?"

"They got Oscar," I said, pointing my own gun at the unfamiliar woman.

"Daryl is missing. You didn't see him?" Maggie questioned, doing the exact same thing as me.

"If anything happens to him-" I started, stepping forwards.

She turned to Rick. "I brought you here to save them-"

"Thanks for the help," he said, an undertone of sarcasm in his voice.

"You'll need help to get them back to the prison or to go back in there for Daryl," she said. "Either way, you need me."

~

"Daryl!" I heard Olivia call out over the top of the gunfire. Rick shone his flashlight over in the direction, where we spotted two figures running through the smoke. Daryl and Merle.

We reached them in no time, the five of us making our way back to the wall.

"They're all at the arena," Merle said, his voice immediately sparking anger within me. "This way."

"You're not going anywhere with us," Rick snapped, and I was glad to have him on my side.

"You really want to do this now?" He shot back, making me narrow my eyes into a glare as he headed through the wall.

"Come on, man," Daryl said. "Rick, come on. We've got to go."

"A little help would be nice!" I heard Merle shout as I headed through the wall after Olivia. "We ain't got time for this."

Maggie and I paused, sharing an unsure look. Daryl stopped, his eyes meeting mine. "Let's go."

I turned to Rick, who gave me a small nod. Maggie began to follow Daryl, as did I, very hesitantly. I didn't want to go anywhere with Merle.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Rick, who gave me a comforting smile. "We'll sort it, don't worry."

I wasn't so sure. Daryl and Merle were brothers and they'd been separated for so long. If I'd seen any of my family again, for real, I'd be desperate to be with them. The more rational part of your brain is blocked when it comes down to love. I just hoped Daryl would see sense.

The sun had begun to come up by the time we made it back to where we'd left Glenn and Michonne. Olivia and Merle had been bickering almost the whole way back. I, however, was glad to have her defending Maggie and I and what we went through.

"Glenn!" I called out as we neared the cars. "Glenn!"

"Blaire?! Blaire! Rick! Oh, thank God," I heard him reply, making me pick up the pace as I headed through the trees.

"Now we got a problem here," Rick started, and I already knew this wasn't going to go well. He'd obviously anticipated it too. "I need you to back up."

Glenn immediately drew his gun at the sight of Merle. I heard Michonne's sword also slicing through the air too. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Hey, hey, hey! Hey, put it down!" I heard Daryl and Rick's yells of protest mix together as I moved and stood beside Glenn, drawing my own gun out.  Maggie and Olivia were behind us, likely doing the same.

"He tried to kill me!"

"If it wasn't for him-"

"He helped us get out of there," Daryl protested, causing me to roll my eyes in annoyance. I knew Daryl was going to take Merle's side, I freaking knew it.

"Yeah, right after he beat the shit out of you!"

"Hey, we both took our licks, man!"

"Jackass," Daryl shot back.

"Hey, shut up," Merle yelled in response.

"Enough!" Rick snapped, just as Michonne stepped forward with the sword again. "Hey, hey, relax! Put that down now!"

"Get that thing out of my face!" Daryl angrily shouted to me, stepping closer. I could feel my own frustration rising, and I struggled to hold my tongue.

"What you gonna do about it?" I snapped back, standing my ground. To say that I was feeling angry was an understatement now.

"You and your boyfriend need to back the hell off!" Daryl shouted, his eyes blazing in annoyance. I saw red.

"Oh, fuck you Daryl," I lunged forwards, slamming both of my hands into his chest, trying to push him backwards.

"Hey! Hey, hey," he spoke, his voice softening slightly as he grabbed my wrists with both hands. I paused, the two of us staring at each other for a moment as I took some breaths to calm down. He let me go.

"Man, looks like you've gone native, brother," Merle taunted, sparking another reaction from Daryl.

"No more than you hanging out with that psycho back there!"

"Oh, yeah, man. He is a charmer, I got to tell you that," Merle said, stepping forwards to direct his words to Michonne. "Been putting the wood to your girlfriend Andrea. Big time, baby."

Andrea's with the governor?

"Andrea's in Woodbury?" Glenn questioned, sharing a look with me.

"Right next to the Governor," Daryl replied.

Michonne went for Merle with the sword again, only to get yelled at by Rick. "I told you to drop that!" She paused as he stared at her for a few moments. "You know Andrea? Hey, do you know Andrea?"

Michonne didn't respond. "Yep, she does," Merle answered instead. "Her and blondie spent all winter cuddling up in the forest. Mm-mmm-mmm. Yeah. My Nubian queen here had two pet walkers. No arms, cut off the jaws, kept them in chains. Kind of ironic now that I think about it."

"Shut up, bro," Daryl snapped at his brother.

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

"Is that why she's with him?" Maggie asked, looking disgusted by the thought.

"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 countered back, seeming to become more and more wound up with every word Merle spoke.

"Oh, man, look at this. Pathetic. All these guns and no bullets in them."

"Merle, shut up!" Daryl yelled, irritated with his own brother now.

"Shut up yourself!" He snapped back, stepping forwards. "Bunch of pussies, you-"

Rick smacked him on the head with his gun, finally shutting him up. We all stared at the man on the ground for a moment or two, silence lapsing between us. "Asshole."

~

"It won't work."

"It's gotta," Daryl stated, causing me to shake my head in disagreement.

"It'll stir things up," I said. "It already has."

"Look, the Governor is probably on the way to the prison right now," Daryl started. "Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle."

"I'm not having him at the prison," Maggie said firmly.

"He tried to kill the three of them," Olivia added, looking at Daryl in disbelief and somewhat disappointment. "There's no way in hell he's coming back."

"Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block as Carol or Beth?" Glenn asked.

"He ain't a rapist," Daryl defended quickly.

"Well, his buddy is," Glenn snapped back, earning a look from Maggie.

"They ain't buddies no more," Daryl argued, causing me to groan. "Not after last night."

"There's no way Merle's gonna live there without putting everyone at each other's throats," Rick said, and I nodded in agreement.

"So you're gonna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us?"

"She's not coming back," Rick shut down immediately, causing Olivia to jump to her defence.

"She's not in a state to be on her own."

"She did bring you guys to us."

"And then ditched us," Rick grumbled.

"At least let my dad stitch her up," Maggie said, but Rick shook his head.

"She's too unpredictable."

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

"No, Merle is your blood," Glenn started, his tone harsh. "My blood, my family is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison."

"And you're part of that family," Rick continued. "But he's not. He's not."

"Man, y'all don't know," Daryl said, shaking his head. We all watched him expectantly. "Fine. We'll fend for ourselves."

"That's not what he was saying," Olivia immediately cut in.

"No him, no me," he said stubbornly.

I exhaled heavily, crossing my arms over my chest. "Stop being a dick, Daryl."

"Look Daryl, you don't have to do that," Maggie added, her tone a lot gentler than mine.

"It was always Merle and I before this."

"You serious? You're just gonna leave like that?" Glenn questioned, looking from him to me briefly.

"You'd do the same thing."

"What do you want us to tell Carol?"

"She'll understand," he looked between us all, nodding before turning to Maggie as he started to push through us all. "Say good-bye to your pop for me."

"Daryl, are you serious?" Olivia hissed as we all began to follow him. "Daryl!"

Rick and I jogged to keep up with him. "Hey. Hey! There's got to be another way," Rick said calmly.

Daryl stopped. "Don't ask me to leave him. I already did that once."

"We started something last night. You realize that?" Rick questioned as Daryl began fast walking again.

"No him, no me," he stopped by the car, opening up the trunk. "That's all I can say."

"Daryl, please-" I started, only to be cut off.

"Take care of yourselves," he said, looking between the both of us as he sorted his stuff. "Take care of lil ass-kicker. Carl," he swung his rucksack over his shoulders and began stepping towards the woods. "He's one tough kid."

Rick didn't move, so I rushed forwards. "Daryl! Daryl, wait!" I jogged a little, catching up with him.

"Go back, Blaire," he muttered, not even bothering to look over at me.

"Hey! Hey, wait. Wait! Daryl," I moved forwards, grabbing his arm before he could go any further. "Please. Please don't go."

"Y'all don't need me," he said, shoving his arm out of my grip. "Let me go."

"Daryl, you belong back at the prison," I rushed out, reaching for his hand. I couldn't let him go, I just couldn't. "You belong with us."

"He's my brother," he defended, looking down with a sigh. "He's my family."

"We may not be related by blood, but you're still my family," I looked up into his eyes, pleading desperately with my own. "You're my brother. And I- I need you."

Daryl shook his head, shifting his eyes away from mine. "You ain't my family, Blaire."

❃

Words: 2707
Published: 16th January 2017

Ouch.

This makes me v sad because I love Daryl and Blaire so much. But at least they're all safe now ((: