rag doll | TWD

[17] made to suffer

runaway --- bon jovi

♮♮♮
[JJ]

"Rick, thank God." Or at least, that's what it should've sounded like. All he probably heard was a muffled mess. I took as deep a breath as I could, leaning back on my shoulders. I kicked the man I had just strangled away as Rick and Daryl grabbed each side of me, pulling me off the ground and untying the gag and my hands.

"Bout time," I joked as Rick moved to cut the tape binding my hands. "What? Did you get stuck in traffic?"

I glanced down and remembered the state of my shirt. Damn, I really liked that shirt. I felt more exposed now than I had with the two goons who had interrogated me. But with my brother here, it was just plain embarrassing.

As Rick finished cutting me loose, we heard the guy on the floor begin to stir back to life. Daryl walked past, driving a knife into his head before stopping beside us. 

Daryl motioned, sounding almost impressed, "Looks like you gave him what he deserved." 

He thought the guy I took out was the one who tore my shirt. But really, it was his brother who did that. He had saved me from knowing the truth about what my brother did; I figured I could do him the same favor.

He set his bow to the side and took off his vest with the angel wings on the back, handing it to me. "Here."

I nodded in appreciation, putting it on. Not gonna lie—looked badass with my boots.

Daryl looked to Rick next, "Come on, we gotta go." 

They came prepared, that's for sure. Smoke bombs, tear gas—everything left at the prison came in handy.

Maggie and Glenn looked worse off than I did. Glenn had clearly given the shirt off his back to Maggie, suggesting she had a similar, if not worse, experience than I did. Glenn himself was bloodied and bruised, looking like he was barely hanging on.

We ran down the town's street and ducked into a nearby building. The streetlights were dark, and the only illumination came from the occasional glow of lanterns.

As soon as we got inside, Glenn collapsed on the ground, letting exhaustion taking over, and Maggie knelt next to him.

Daryl did a quick scan of the room, "Ain't no way out back here."

"Rick, how did you find us?" Maggie questioned. 

He ignored her, looking to Glenn, "how bad are you hurt?"

"I'll be all right."

I noticed we had lost the additional support somewhere along the way. "Where's that woman who was with y'all?" I asked, scanning the group.

Rick noticed too. "She was right behind us."

"Maybe she was spotted." Oscar suggested. 

"Want me to go look for her?" Daryl asked. 

Rick shook his head, "no, we gotta get him out of here. She's on her own."

Glenn swallowed hard, "Daryl, this was Merle. It was. He did this."

"You saw him?"

"Face to face. Threw a walker at me. He was gonna execute us." 

"So, my brother's this governor?"

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

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

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

Rick squeezed Glenn's knee in a comforting way, "Don't. No need to apologize."

"They're gonna be looking for us." Maggie informed.

Rick looked out the window, "We have to get back. Can you walk? We got a car a few miles out."

"I'm good." Glenn groaned, sitting up.

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

"Not now. We're in hostile territory."

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

"Look at what he did!" Rick snapped but continued to whisper. "Look, we gotta- gotta get out of here now."

Daryl tried to convince, "Maybe I can talk to him. Maybe I can work something out."

"No, no, you're not thinking straight. Look, no matter what they say, they're hurt. Glenn can barely walk. How are we gonna make it out if we get overrun by walkers and this governor catches up to us? I need you. Are you with me?"

"Yeah," Daryl agreed, moving to grab one of the smoke bombs and getting ready to set it off.

"On three. Stay tight." Rick told us. "One, two, three."

Daryl tossed two of the bombs and we started to run, immediately being spotted. It turned into a war zone, quickly. We hunkered in a shop's opening. "How many?"

"I didn't see."

"Don't matter. There's gonna be more of them. We need to move." Daryl told us. 

"Any grenades left?" My brother asked. Daryl nodded. "Get 'em ready. We gotta gun 'em to the wall."

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

"No, we gotta stay together." I protested. "I can get to behind the bench and take out the guy on the wall."

"Nah, too hairy. I'll be right behind you." 

Once the smoke filled the air, the chaos turned even more chaotic. 

I covered Rick as he led us to the wall, adrenaline pumping through my veins. The chaos was relentless, and every second counted. As we made our way over, a gunshot rang out—Oscar went down, collapsing beside Maggie.

The gunman who shot Oscar started moving in toward Rick. I didn't hesitate as I drew my gun, but as the smoke began to clear, I froze momentarily. 

The man— he looked exactly like Shane. The shock was like a punch to the gut. I felt sick. I couldn't tell if it was my mind playing tricks on me, or if the resemblance was so striking it felt surreal, like I was caught in a twisted version of reality.

"JJ, let's go!" my brother shouted.

I blinked, momentarily stunned, as if I was imagining it. The urgent shouts from Rick and Maggie jolted me out of my trance.

"Go! I'm right behind you!" I shouted back, my voice cracking with urgency. I noticed Daryl taking out the guards on the wall and joined in, firing as best I could. "Daryl, come on. We need to go."

More shots exploded around us, hitting the ground perilously close. The chaos was overwhelming.

"I got you. Go." 

"I can cover myself. We both need to go."

He urged me on, "Just go, I'm right behind you."

I ran to the school bus and climbed up, catching up with Rick and the others. "JJ, get down," he called, peering over the edge.

I kneeled next to Maggie and Glenn, trying to catch my breath. As I glanced behind me, I noticed that Daryl was not right behind us.

But then, the random lady with the sword appeared, rushing up to join us. 

"Where the hell were you?" Rick snapped, pointing his gun at her, "put your hands up. Turn around. Turn around." He unsheathed her sword, lowering his own weapon. "Get what you came for?"

"Where are the rest of your people?" She asked. 

"They got Oscar." Glenn didn't lower his gun. 

I continued to glance around, "Daryl is missing. You didn't see him?" 

"If anything happens to him-"

She cut Rick off, "I brought you here to save them."

"Thanks for the help."

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

I nodded, "She's right."