Daryl's Angel (10th Anniversary Edition)

Chapter 39: Assault on Woodbury

By the time we reach Woodbury, the sun has gone down. We move past a row of train cars and hunker down behind an old abandoned car. We look out over the hood at a debris-filled road and, just as Michonne said, there are large walls built up with corrugated iron, giant tires stacked along the top, and a set of double-doors large enough for a bus to fit through. Searchlights stand posted on either side of the door, illuminating the darkness ahead, and I can just see a few figures pacing along the wall.

Michonne wasn't kidding about it being fortified.

After a moment, Michonne backs up and disappears back the way we came. Rick tries to stop her, but she doesn't listen, and the rest of us hunker down further. Rick purses his lips.

"Alright, we need to downsize," he says. Him and Oscar remove the extra guns from their backs and rest them up against the car, swapping them for others.

"Ain't no way we're gonna check in all them buildings," Daryl says, "not with all them guards there."

A twig snaps and all of us turn, various weapons raised, but it's only Michonne. She mouths something before motioning us to follow, and Rick nods before we follow her. She leads us to the back of a building, where there's a window with all the glass knocked out. It looks like it used to be boarded up, but the boards are broken and useless for their original purpose.

We climb in, one by one, and creep through to the front of the building. It's dark but, from what I can see, it looks like any old place of business. There's no furniture in the large room we enter, just metal shelves stacked with canning jars and food supplies. I guess this place could have been a store at some point.

Daryl moves past Rick to check the windows as Rick turns to Michonne.

"This is where you were held?" he asks.

"I was questioned," Michonne corrects.

"Any idea where else they could be?"

Daryl pulls back the curtain, just a bit, and frowns as he looks back at her. "Thought you said there was a curfew," he says.

"The street is packed during the day," she retorts. "Those are stragglers."

"If anyone comes in here, we're sitting ducks," Rick says. "We gotta move."

"They could be in his apartment," Michonne suggests.

"Yeah? What if they ain't?" Daryl asks, stepping back from the window and towards her.

"Then we'll look somewhere else."

Rick and Daryl both face her, and Rick speaks. "You said you could help us."

"I'm doing what I can." Her voice is low, slightly irritated.

"Then where the hell are they?" Oscar asks.

Rick jerks his head to the side and the rest of us, minus Michonne, move further into the room.

"If this goes south, we're cutting her loose," Rick whispers.

"You think she's leading us into a trap?" Oscar asks.

"Right now it's the blind leading the blind," Daryl says.

"I want to trust her," I say. "She didn't have to bring those supplies back, or tell us where Glenn and Maggie were taken. She got us this far..."

"Doesn't matter if she can't get us the rest of the way," Daryl retorts. "Let's split up."

There's a knock on the door that makes my heart stutter in its beating. We all look towards the door just as the telltale sound of keys jangling reaches us, then a lock clicking.