After the Storm [1]

3 • Hostage

They parked their van along the outskirts of the city and Maevys wrinkled her nose in disgust, already smelling the odor of decaying flesh. Atlanta was the last place she wanted to be, but she'd follow Rick anywhere. She traveled beside Glenn, Daryl and Rick leading ahead of them as T-Dog watched the rear. They all were on edge, but Daryl lead them forward carelessly. It was clear to Maeve he hadn't been to Atlanta since the bombs. It was different than the rest of the world. A few goons in the forest were one thing, Maeve had gone up against seven on her own at one time and lived to tell the tale. But a hoard of them? That was something that kept you up at night.

"I didn't want to come back here," Glenn whispers to her and Maevys looks up at the nervous boy. She found herself feeling a kinship towards Glenn Rhee. He reminded her of a boy she'd worked with before, someone that meant a lot to her.

"Don't doubt yourself Glenn, we're not losing anybody today," she says encouragingly, clapping him on the shoulder before moving up to walk with her brother.

"Here," she says to him, passing him Dale's heavy cutters so they could create a passage through the fence that would allow them to slip into the city undetected.

"Merle first or guns?" Rick asks Glenn as the group slips through, immediately throwing Daryl into a tizzy.

"Merle! We ain't even havin this conversation!" Daryl hollers, earning an annoyed shush from Maeve.

"Yes. We are." Rick snaps before turning to Glenn. "You know the geography. It's your call."

The boy looked at them all nervously before speaking up. "Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back, Merle first."

And so they set off to the department store. Maevys held up the rear, allowing the men to lead the way. She had an arrow knocked as she walked, her feet pattering almost silently against the pavement as she scanned their surroundings. They found the front of the department store empty, but a snarl from inside kept them quiet.

"Damn," Daryl says, catching Maeve's attention. "You are one ugly skank."

Maeve snorts as his arrow flies, taking the goon to the ground with a thud. It made Maeve smile, how he taunted them just like she did. He too needed the crass humor to cope, he had understood what she'd been trying to tell him in the woods the day before.

As soon as their path is clear and Glenn points Daryl in the direction of the roof, the five of them tear up the stairs, trying to keep up with the enraged and worried Dixon brother. The cutters are used by Rick once again to cut the pad lock and Daryl kicks the door open, all of them spilling from the stair well onto the hot cement rooftop.

Daryl leads them around some piping as he shouts his brothers name. "Merle!" Maeve was right on his heels, bumping into his back as he stopped dead in his tracks. She could see why, and the cry of grief that ripped through Daryl's throat had her reaching for him, trying to hold the man still as he cried. She worried he'd lash out again.