𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐞 || 𝐓𝐖𝐃 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐒𝐢𝐱

━━━━━━━━━.◦*∘☽

𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞

Gage flings his string of squirrels at my dad's response to leaving Merle behind, making him dodge the flying dead animals by only a few inches before Gage rushes forward to punch him, but my dad dodges it and tackles him by the abdomen down to the floor in a heap.

Behind him, Daryl goes after Rick who is bodied to the floor by Shane while Gage and my dad roll off each other as all three of them stand up, Gage and Daryl twin pull knives from their seethes on their sides and hold them out, Daryl eyeing Rick and Gage eyeing my dad, thirsty for blood.

Daryl moves first, taking a swing at Rick's face, making Rick move out of the way just barely enough to miss the swipe of the sharp blade over his face while Gage takes a slower approach than his dad.

He makes a fake gab toward my dad's stomach, before swinging back out and aiming for his face so fast it's within seconds of one move to the other.

Rick snags Daryl's arm in his hands and restrains it against his body before Shane goes to his free arm that doesn't hold the knife and together they restrain Daryl.

"I'd suggest against whatever other ideas you have about using that knife on me. I can promise you, you won't win against me." My dad warns Gage, who momentarily looks beside him to his dad who's already restrained by Shane, demanding he let him go while Shane holds him into a submissive chokehold.

"Chockholds illegal." Daryl grunts out and Gage stops, eyeing my dad with a menacing look before dropping his knife, knowing that he's outnumbered and won't win this.

"Let him go, Shane." I protest but he ignores me as Daryl struggles in his hold, everyone watching idly by as Rick approaches Daryl.

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asks Daryl before looking at Gage who's watching from a few feet away, looking ready to punch Shane's lights out.

"Think we can manage that?" Rick asks Gage, the stance clear that of the two, the younger Dixon is more willing to listen, having heeded my dad's warning not to fight with him anymore.

"Yeah." Gage answers in a grunt before Shane let's go of Daryl who falls to the ground in a heap of limbs, before pushing himself to a sitting position.

"What we did wasn't on a whim. Your brother and uncle do no work and play well with others." Rick tells the pair, mostly directing his attention to Daryl, whose panting on the floor from what had just happened.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it" Tdog pipes in, making everyone look at him.

"You couldn't pick it up?" Gage asks him like he's stupid.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain." Tdog clarifies and Daryl scuffs while Gage lets out a dry humorless laugh before Daryl works his way to his feet and Gage turns away from all of us to walk away.

"If that's supposed to make someone feel any better, it don't." Gage snaps over his shoulder as he walks away but Tdog interrupts him.

"Well, maybe this will. I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him, with a padlock." Tdog tells them both, making Gage stop and turn around to look at him once more.

"It's gotta count for something." Rick suggests and the pair go silent.

"To hell with all of y'all. Tell me where he is so I can go get him." Daryl says and Gage remains silent, not so trigger happy to jump on the bandwagon of going to save his uncle.