MARCIE'S HEART WAS BEATING OUT OF HER CHEST.

She bit the man's hand and threw her head back, smashing it into his nose hard enough to let her go.

She turned around and before he could reach her once again, she kneed him in the crotch. Once he was on the ground, Marcie began to ran towards the ring once again,

"Daryl!" She screamed,

An hand grabbed her arm and she was pulled to a stop. As she turned, before she could attack the person who was keeping her from Daryl, she stopped, "Papa." She whispered,

"Marcella, what are you doing? Those men are dangerous."

She shook her head, "Not to me. All I see is the man I love."

Her father stared at her with wide eyes. Never had she ever given a confession like that. She's had boyfriends in the past, but she had never claimed to love them like she loved the hunter.

The eight months in the woods gave her a long time to think about him.

Marcie could hear the crowd cheering, the punches the Dixon brothers were landing on each other. And she could hear the snarls of biters.

"Please, papa, let me go to him." She begged, "Let me help him."

Her father let go of her wrist and Marcie gave him a teary smile before moving forward again. She called out Daryl's name as gunshots were fired.

The crowd began to scream and run in a panic. Marcie tripped as smoke filled the arena.

She sat up, leaning back on her elbows, and looked around. She spotted the crossbow on the ground and instantly recognised it as the young Dixon's. Marcie was quick to grab it before searching the smoke. She spotted the angel wings and scrambled to her feet,

Marcie called out his name and reached for his arm.

Daryl turned to slash at her but she quickly dodged it, "Daryl, Daryl, stop, it's me, it's me!"

He paused, lowering the knife, and stared down at her with wide eyes, "Marcie..." Daryl cupped her face and she smiled up at him, letting go of the crossbow,

"Hi." She whispered, tears filled her eyes, "It's been a while."

Daryl pressed his lips against hers and she was quick to react. She kissed him back frantically, clutching onto his leather vest.

Marcie pulled back, regaining her focus on the situation at hand. She reached down to grab the crossbow again as Daryl stared at her, "Rick said you were dead."

She handed him the crossbow, "Rick had every reason to believe I died on the farm. But I'm here. I'm alive."

A hand reached out and grabbed Daryl's shoulder, "We've got to go!" Merle yelled, "Let's go, little brother."

Merle ran ahead and Daryl grabbed Marcie's arm, pulling her with him. She was quick to dig her feet into the ground, fighting against his grip, "Wait, Daryl..."

"What you waitin' for? We gotta go." Daryl stated, turning to look at her,

She shook her head, "I want to go with you, I really do..." The tears began to fall harder, "But I can't."

"Whatchu mean ya can't?" The archer stepped closer to her, hoping for the smoke to keep them hidden,

"My parents are here." Daryl's heart dropped. He knew how much it meant to her, finding her parents. And he knew there was no way to convince her to go with him, "Go. I'll find you guys when I can convince them to leave." She pressed her lips to his one last time, "Told you I'd find your brother."

"I'll come back for ya." He whispered before following the sound of Rick's voice, searching for him in the smoke,

Marcie watched him go. She wanted to follow, and it broke her heart to see him leaving without her.

But Merle was with him. She kept her promise she made to him almost a year ago.

Once he was out of sight, Marcie turned to look for her parents. She paused when she spotted the Governor in the haze, staring at her with a gun in his hand.

It was spine-chilling. Seeing him like that, blood running down his cheek from behind the bandage. No emotion in his face.

He wanted war. He wanted blood.

Vivian, Glenn, and the woman, Michonne, were sat by the car only a few miles away from Woodbury, waiting for the others.

The sun had risen. Vivian was beginning to think they were captured, that they weren't making it back. And at that point, who was left to go save them? Assuming they were kept alive.

Glenn kept looking over at Vivian, who was sat inside the car with the door open. He observed the awkward way she was sitting, and the bruises and cuts around her visible collarbone, neck, and face.

"Did he...?"

Vivian glanced at him for a moment before staring forward again, "I don't want to talk about it." She responded with a scratchy voice, before going back to gently ripping the duct tape from her wrists,

"I'm sorry." Glenn tugged on the sleeves of the the sweatshirt he was wearing, "You went through all that just for us to tell him where the prison is."

The brunette shrugged, "If I had been in Maggie's position, I would've given in, too. But I had to think about Liam."

"Glenn!" Rick's voice called out to them from the trees, "Viv!"

Glenn was quick to stand and head into the woods to meet the group, while Michonne stayed behind to help Vivian out of the car.

Vivian's eyes widened when she spotted Merle walking in the back of the group while Michonne got out her sword and Glenn aimed his gun at him,

Rick raised his hand towards them, "Now we got a problem here. I need you to back up."

"What the hell is he doing here?!" Glenn demanded,

Rick went towards Michonne while Daryl took care of Glenn, "Hey, hey, hey! Hey, put it down!"

"He tried to kill me!" Michonne yelled, her eyes wide,

"If it wasn't for him-

"He helped us get out of there!" Daryl defended,

"Yeah, right after he beat the shit out of you." Rick spat back, still keeping Michonne from getting to Merle,

"Hey, we both took our licks, man." Merle commented, leaning up against a tree,

"Jackass." Daryl mumbled,

Vivian stayed behind everyone, just watching. She didn't want Merle to join them, especially after the events that happened in Woodbury. He had beaten both her and Glenn, people who he had known from his previous group.

People who had left him on a roof to rot.

And he could want to get revenge on Rick and the others involved, too.

"Man, looks like you've gone native, brother." Merle commented,

Daryl turned on him, "No more than you hanging out with that psycho back there."

The older Dixon smirked, "Oh, yeah, man. He is a charmer, I got to tell you that." He looked over at Michonne, "Been putting the wood to your girlfriend Andrea. Big time, baby."

"What?" Glenn looked around at them, "Andrea's in Woodbury?"

"Right next to the Governor." Daryl answered, "Marcie's there, too."

Vivian's eyes widened and she moved her gaze to Rick, "And you didn't bring her back?"

Rick had continued to insure her that Marcie was dead, there was no way she made it off the farm. And now that they know for sure she was alive, he left her behind? Again?

"Her parents are in Woodbury. She didn' want to risk bringin' them out here." Daryl explained, "Told her I'd be back for 'er."

Rick settled his stare onto Michonne, "You know them?" She didn't respond, keeping her glare on Merle, "Hey, do you know Andrea and Marcie?"

"Yep, she does." Merle answered for her, "Her, the blondie, and the sheriff's deputy spent all winter cuddling up in the forest." He hummed with a smile on his face, "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."

Rick turned and exchanged looks with everyone as Merle told the group about the woman in front of them. They've seen people keep walkers captive before, such as the Greene family, but cutting off their arms and jaws? That was different. This woman clearly knew how dangerous walkers were, and removed what made them so dangerous.

"Shut up, bro." Daryl snapped at him,

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

"Is that why she's with him?" Maggie asked,

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

"Shut up!" Rick yelled at him,

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

"Merle, shut up!"

At least Daryl knew when to keep quiet.

Merle stepped forward with a glare, his demeanour completely shifting, "Shut up yourself! Bunch of pussies you roll-"

As his back turned on Rick, the sheriff raised his gun and smacked him on the back of the head, sending the older Dixon to the ground, unconscious,

"Asshole."