𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏
that sounds illegal, i'm in

GLENN DRIVES THE car up a mountain as Nadia's lost in her thoughts; how her brother died, and how pathetic and weak she was not to do anything to help him.

She's thrown out of her sad thoughts when the car comes to a sudden stop. Nadia glances up through her thick eyelashes to see a fairly large group of people waiting.

Nadia stays in the car as she watches Glenn get yelled at by a man with a big nose and curly hair. Everyone else then joins in on the yelling, asking questions about someone who must've been in the group that Glenn first took to the city.

Tired of hearing pointless yelling even after the car alarm is cut off, Nadia gets out of the car and slams the door, loud enough that everyone goes quiet and turns to her. "Yelling at him is getting nowhere," she tells them. "The alarm was blaring all over these hills. Those dumb fucks won't be able to pinpoint where it came from."

Nadia hears a small chuckle come from Glenn who stands beside her, making the curly-haired man glare at her. "Do you think this is funny?" He asks, and Nadia shrugs, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Who the hell even are you?"

"None of your damn business if you're going to keep going with that attitude," she retorts, crossing her arms.

Rumbling comes from ahead, Nadia watching as a white truck parks behind the sports car. The people in the truck rush out to reunite with others from the group waiting.

Nadia's stuck in her depressive thoughts, and the sinking realization hits her like a brick once again; she has no family left, and she's all alone.

The curly-haired man shifts his gun a little as he looks over at Glenn. "How'd y'all get out of there anyway?"

"New guys," Glenn replies, gesturing to Nadia who simply smirks. "They got us out."

"There's someone else?"

"Yeah," Morales cuts in as he holds his arms around his family in a loving manner before he yells to the back of the truck, "Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello."

Nadia watches with a small smile as Rick shifts out of the driver's seat of the truck.

"The guy's a cop, like you," Morales says in the curly-haired man's direction, glancing over at him.

Nadia eyes Rick and the curly-haired man, instantly noticing that the two men know each other. Rick's eyes then scan over the other people standing around until his eyes stop on two of them with their backs to Rick.

The two turn around, a woman and a little boy, with looks of disbelief on their faces as they stare at Rick.

Rick's face changes to surprise and happiness as he steps forwards.

The boy is the first one to react as he runs towards Rick, the woman quickly following. "Dad! Dad!" He yells, and it's clear to Nadia now that the woman and little boy are Lori and Carl, Rick's wife and son.

Nadia watches as the three embrace each other, tears falling from their eyes. She's happy for Rick, she is, but it still hurts that she has no one to make her that happy and relieved to see them once more.

THE NEXT MORNING, a car approaches the top of the mountain, and Nadia turns her head to also see a truck behind it filled with canisters and jugs of water.

Once it stops, the curly-headed man, now known as Shane, gets out of the vehicle. "Water's here, y'all!" He calls out to the group. "Just a reminder to boil before use."

Several of the women, including Andrea, her little sister Amy, and a grey-haired woman, Carol, grab the jugs out from the back of the vehicle. Nadia keeps her eyes on the car, watching as they finish up on pulling it apart, and taking what they need. Soon it will be nothing but a metal exterior.

A sudden scream from a child snaps Nadia back to reality, turning her head towards the sound with a worried look.

"Mom! Dad!"

Nadia's the first to run towards the screams, not even grabbing a weapon. Everyone else follows shortly behind her.

As Nadia stops running, she looks over at the clearing where a walker kneels, biting into a dead deer with three arrows in its side.

Before it can turn around and snap at her and the others, Nadia marches forward and kicks it in the head so hard that the walker flies backwards onto the ground. She stomps on its head over and over again, listening to it crunch and squelch.

Once the walker is no longer twitching, she steps back and wipes her gut-covered boot on the grass. Turning to face the others, Nadia can't help but smirk at their surprise, awe, and disgust. "You're welcome."

"It's the first one we've had up here," Carol says, breathing heavily as she holds onto her daughter, Sophia. "They never come this far up the mountain."

"You killed it all on your own?" Shane eyes her in what looks like disbelief and distrust.

Nadia raises her head high. "What? Like it's hard?"

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what," Jim sighs, his hands wrapped around his shovel. 

A branch snaps in the distance and everyone with a weapon reacts as Shane cocks his shotgun and aims at the trees.

Nadia watches as a middle-aged man steps out from behind the trees, an angry look on his strong features. "Son of a bitch," he curses as he emerges into the clearing. "That's my deer!"

Nadia looks at the faces of the group, realising exactly who this man is. Daryl Dixon.

"Look at it. All gnawed on by this." Daryl rams his foot into the side of the walker and continues to kick it. "Filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"

"Calm down, son," an older man, Dale, says, putting his hand out to Daryl, who's holding his crossbow tightly. "That's not helping."

Daryl stops kicking the corpse and looks at Dale. "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond?'"He snaps before turning back to the deer, removing the arrows from its body. "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp and cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed-up part right here?"

Shane moves his gun to rest behind his neck, a nervous look on his face. "I would not risk that."

Daryl sighs. "That's a damn shame. I got some squirrels—about a dozen or so. That'll have to do," he says, showing the group the squirrels hanging over his shoulder.

Nadia simply raises an eyebrow as the man passes by her and heads back to camp. The rest of the group begins to follow, including her.

"Merle! Get your ugly ass out here!" Daryl yells through the camp, heading to his tent. Shane's the first to step back in camp with everyone following behind until they all stop, and Nadia moves to stand next to Glenn. "I got us some squirrel! Let's stew them up!"

Shane takes a step towards Daryl, holding his hand out with worry, knowing his reaction will be bad when they tell him the truth. "Daryl, just slow down a bit. I need to talk to you."

Daryl pauses and turns around to look at him with narrowed eyes. "About what?"

"About Merle. There was a—" Shane cuts himself off and takes another step towards Daryl, placing his hands on his hips as he faces him. "There was a problem in Atlanta."

Daryl glances around at everyone, fearing the worst as he turns back to Shane. "He dead?"

"We're not sure," Shane answers shortly.

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl snaps back, walking to the other side of Shane.

Nadia tries to step forward, thinking it may sound better coming from a girl. And she knows that if need be, she can take him easily. But when she takes a step forward, Glenn pulls her back by a hand on her bicep, sending her a worried look, and shaking his head.

Rick takes her place instead and sets his gun down before walking towards the man. "No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it."

"Who are you?" Daryl asks, pointing a finger at Rick.

"Rick Grimes," Rick introduces himself, and Nadia watches as Daryl's face contorts until he just seems pissed off.

"Rick Grimes," Daryl mocks, staring back at Rick. "You got something you want to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, and hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there," Rick explains, and Nadia's eyes move to T-Dog who's wandering up the hill, a handful of logs in his hands.

"Hold on. Let me process this." Daryl wipes some sweat from his forehead before diverting his gaze back up to Rick. "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!"

Nadia blinks a few times at his sudden outburst, but who can blame him? She knows she would act the same way if it was her brother chained back on that roof in Atlanta.

"Yeah." Rick nods.

Suddenly, Daryl's throwing his squirrels at Rick, making him duck, and then Daryl's charging at him. Shane quickly cuts in and tackles Daryl to the ground.

Daryl quickly gets back up and pulls out a knife, making T-Dog drop the wood in alarm as he warns Rick, "Watch the knife!"

Nadia goes to jump in again, but Glenn stops her, saying, "Don't. He won't be hesitant to hurt you either."

Daryl swings at Rick, and Nadia's just about ready to shove Glenn away from her so she can help, but she stops once Rick grabs a hold of Daryl's arm as Shane moves around and puts him into a headlock.

"Okay, okay." Rick lets go of Daryl's arm, but Shane keeps him in a headlock.

Daryl continues to struggle, trying his best to get out of the hold Shane has on him. "You'd best let me go!"

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't," Shane replies.

"Chokehold's illegal," Daryl bites back, and Nadia can't help but snort in amusement.

"You can file a complaint," Shane mutters. "Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day."

Rick crouches in front of Daryl and leans down to look him square in the eyes. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?"

"Yeah," Daryl says, and Shane lets him go.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others," Rick explains to Daryl, briefly glancing at Nadia who looks ready to jump in if necessary. He has to admit—the kid can handle herself.

"It's not Rick's fault," T-Dog speaks up hesitantly. "I had the key. I dropped it."

Daryl glares over at the man. "You couldn't pick it up?!" He shouts, his chest heaving up and down in anger.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain," T-Dog answers.

Daryl scoffs, picking himself up from the ground and walking to the small area next to T-Dog. "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well, maybe this will," T-Dog says as he walks closer to Daryl, standing next to Shane. "Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him—with a padlock."

"It's gotta count for something," Rick chimes in, shrugging.

Daryl's face screws up into a painful expression. "Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so I can go get him," he says gruffly, and Nadia can practically sense the sadness and grief in his voice.

"He'll show you," Lori says, and Nadia turns her head slightly to see the woman's eyes solely on Rick. "Isn't that right?"

Rick nods his head, glancing back at Daryl. "I'm going back," he confirms, Lori walking away to the RV at that.

It's only a few moments later when Nadia hears Shane yelling at Rick as the man exits his tent, dressed back in his police uniform, "So that's it, huh? You're just gonna walk off? Just to hell with everybody else?"

"I'm not saying to hell with anybody," Rick sighs and keeps walking up the hill. "Not you, Shane. Lori least of all."

"Tell her that." Shane scoffs and follows him to where the group is waiting.

"She knows." Rick nods.

"Well, look, I don't, okay, Rick?" Shane says, pulling Rick back to look at him. "So could you just—could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?"

"Hey," Daryl calls from his spot next to his gear as he loads it up. "Choose your words more carefully."

"No, he did." Nadia nods, shifting her stance slightly next to Glenn. "Douchebag is what he meant."

Daryl turns his gaze to her and he freezes as her hazel eyes meet his blue ones. The facial features, the eyes, the stance—everything reminds him of an old girlfriend he used to have. He shakes his head and decides to ignore it as he grabs his crossbow.

"Merle Dixon," Shane utters his name like it's a disease itself. "The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me." Rick shrugs. "I can't let a man die of thirst... me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Shane asks, his hands resting on his hips.

Turning his head, Rick looks over his shoulder at Glenn standing next to Nadia. When Glenn notices the sudden silence, he looks up and exhales in disbelief. "Oh, come on," he groans.

"You know the way. You've been there before in and out, no problem. You said so yourself," Rick says with a shrug before looking at Nadia, who stands straighter, almost like a soldier. "With that look, I already know you're coming."

For some reason, Daryl wants to protest but stops himself short. It's just the fact that Nadia looks like the first and only girl he's ever laid his eyes on, and it's bugging him, making him protective.

Glenn notices the way Nadia stands—as if she doesn't seem the least bit afraid to go back to the city, and he sighs. "Alright." If Nadia can do it without shaking in fear, then he can too. And if he wants to impress her... no one but himself has to know.

"That's just great." Shane shakes his head. "Now you're gonna risk three men and a little girl, huh?"

Nadia raises an eyebrow and steps closer to Shane. "Well, this little girl knows about thirty-two different ways to kill you right now, and that's without a weapon." She smirks. "If you want, I can show you—"

"Nadia," Rick scolds, though he holds himself back from smiling. She's one feisty girl.

"Four," T-Dog says, walking up with his gear.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" Daryl scoffs, looking at the arrowhead he's holding in his hand.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog asks him in annoyance.

Rick shrugs, looking at Shane. "That's four."

"It's not just four," Shane says, then suddenly starts yelling, "You're putting every single one of us at risk! Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here, it was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."

"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Rick sighs, refusing to let anyone talk him out of this.

"Right, the guns," Glenn gasps and snaps his fingers. 

"Wait." Shane shakes his head, looking at them both with curiosity. "What guns?"

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns," Nadia lists simply, smirking at Shane.

Rick nods. "I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up."

Shane cocks a brow. "Ammo?"

Sadly, Shane seems to care more about a bag of guns rather than a person's life... even if that person is Merle Dixon.

"Seven hundred rounds, assorted." Rick nods once.

"You went through hell to find us," Lori sighs at her husband, stepping forward to try and reason with him. "You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?"

"Did she not just suggest for him to take Daryl a few minutes ago?" Nadia asks lowly, leaning towards Glenn who nods back with the same befuddled expression.

"Dad, I don't want you to go," Carl says quietly, his eyes watering already.

"Merle Dixon—he's not worth it," Nadia states bluntly, ignoring the glare from Daryl. "But those guns—we're going to need them whether everyone here realizes that or not."

"Tell me," Lori begs Rick, grabbing his arms. "Make me understand."

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy." Rick sighs, his voice lowering as he speaks, "Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him."

"What's stopping you?" Lori asks. 

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped." Rick clears his throat. "He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"These are our walkies?" Shane asks, sitting down on the steps of the RV, rubbing his callused hand over the stubble on his cheek.

"Yeah." Rick nods. 

"So, use the C.B.," Lori says with attitude. "What's wrong with that?"

"The C.B.'s fine." Shane shakes his head and looks at her with soft eyes. "It's the walkies that suck to crap. Date back to the '70s, don't match any other bandwidth not even the scanners in our cars."

"I need that bag." Rick squats down and holds his son in front of him. "Okay?"

Carl takes a breath before nodding slowly. "Alright."

Nadia approaches the little boy, her heart clenching at the sight—he reminds her of her little brother. "I'll make sure your dad gets back here in one piece. No matter what."

Carl nods and looks up at her with a small smile. "Thank you."

Nadia smiles softly. "You're welcome."