Shattered

Chapter Thirteen: Trust

      I walked outside trying not to put too much pressure on my ankle. I grabbed onto the fence and looked out at the walkers. Mary flashed into my mind and I choked back a sob. A hand was placed on my shoulder. I looked back to see Maggie. "How's your ankle?" "Fine." "That was a quick answer. What's wrong?"
      "Nothing. I just didn't sleep well." I fixed my bow on my shoulder and walked away from her. I jumped on Nelly and went to the front gate. Rick ran over and stopped me. "Where are you going?" "On a run. I'll be back." "You're injured." "Rick let me through." He sighed and opened the gate. I pulled out the bat and smashed the walker near me. I went through the wood and made it to the road. I rode into town and looked around.
       I broke in the door of a convenience store and slowly walked in. I heard a door behind me and ducked behind a shelf. I saw the men from before and made my way out the back. I looked around the corner and saw them looking around. I heard a snap behind me and plunged my knife into a walkers skull. It caused a bit of noise making someone walk over. I put my hand over their mouth and quickly put them in a sleeper hold. I tossed him to the ground and knocked over a wooden box. It landed on the sidewalk and I moved to the back of the store. I went around the other corner and had a bullet go by my head. I fell to the ground and kicked his feet out from under him. I hit him with his gun and the rest of them came running. I put the gun to his head and pointed my own at the men. "I believe we've met before. Now why did you attack my people?' "Why did your people shoot at me?" "He's been on edge lately." I rolled my eyes and looked behind me. I stood up and pointed the guns in both directions keeping my foot on the man's head.
      "I believe I have the upper hand here." "I'm not so sure of that." I looked above me and moved out of the way. A bottle hit the ground where I stood and he walked towards me. "I'm not here to hurt you but I'm wondering how we keep running into each other." "I stay within a twenty mile radius of my old hideout." 
     "Do you now?" I glared at him and he put his hand out. I slowly took it making sure to keep an eye on his men. "Ellis?" I spun around quickly and saw Merle. I walked up and put my hand on his face. I pulled back and slapped him. He grabbed his face and their leader grabbed me around the waist. "I'm going to fucking kill you! I swear you're dead." "Put her down. She's not dangerous. Just a little upset. I'll meet you at the truck, give us a minute." When everyone left I started hitting his chest just yelling at him. 
      He grabbed my wrists and stopped me. "Mary's dead because of you!" "You sure changed the past couple of months. You let your wild side loose." "Tell me what happened." He sighed and sat against the building. I looked at his new attachment and sat next to him. "She had the baby and something went wrong. She bled out and I couldn't put her down Grace." "I had to. I had to put her down. She found her way back to the farm and I shot her." I started to cry and he put his arms around me. I sobbed into his chest not caring if I cried in front of him.

      I sat in the back of the truck with Merle and Martinez. Merle asked for me to come back with them to catch up. By the look of it Merle didn't trust the man they call the Governor very much either. I was extremely uncomfortable with the whole situation. My ankle was killing me and it was getting harder to breathe. We pulled up to a huge gate and they opened it letting us in. It was a town full of people, happy people. Merle helped me out of the back of the truck and I stumbled when I hit my ankle. "Get her up to aid." Merle nodded and helped me into a building. 
      The doctor changed the bandage on my ankle and asked to see my other injury. I started to refuse until she gave me a look that even scared me. I took off my shirt and Merle walked in. "Great.." "Don't worry about it darlin'." He sat down in a chair and waited for the chick to finish. Someone knocked on the door and Merle got it. He argued with the guy and took a set of clothes from him. "If you want we can wash those." "Sure.. that'd be great." He tossed me the other clothes before stepping out of the room. "How long have you known Dixon?" "Not long. He was engaged to my sister." "She the mother of the baby?" I stopped and looked over at her. She bit her lip and hurried out of the room. I threw open the door and walked outside.
       "Where's Dixon?" "I don't know. I'm not his keeper. You know I never got your name." "Call me Ellis until you decide to tell me yours." I turned away from him and saw Andrea walking down the street. I stopped and just watched her walk up to the Governor. "Martinez said you found someone." "Yes. Miss Ellis was on the street. We had a bit of a disagreement when Henry shot at her." I glared at Andrea and she smiled. "It's been a long time." "I try not to mix myself up with filth." We got in each other's faces and she swung at me. I dodged it and tackled her to the ground. I pulled out my knife as a reflex and was thrown off of her. "If you don't want to be shot I recommend you stand down, Staff Sergeant." He let go of my shirt and I looked back at Andrea. Merle came up and pulled me down the street with him.
       "What the hell are you doing?" "Did you tell him about me?" "Must of been sugar tits over there. They're getting real cozy." He pulled me into a room and walked into the kitchen. "This where you've been living?" "Yeah." He walked into another room and came back out holding the baby. I walked over and he handed me the baby. "What's her name?" "Dacey. Dacey Ellis." I shook my head and looked over at Merle. "Dixon. Dacey Dixon. She's yours Merle." I smiled down at Dacey and kissed her head.
      "She's got your eyes." He smiled and handed me a bottle. "I have to get you out of here. He doesn't let you leave once you're here. He'll kill you." "How?" "Tonight I'm on watch. During our shift change I'll open the gate and get you out." I nodded and he started packing a bag. I continued to feed Dacey and watched him go around the apartment. I grabbed his arm and stopped him. 
     "Merle come with me. You'll get back to Daryl, I'll talk to Rick." "No.. No I don't belong there. Take Dacey if it all goes to shit I need to make sure she's in good hands." I nodded and we sat down and waited for nightfall. He handed me two bags and I walked outside. I waited for him in an alley and he brought back Nelly. I got on and he handed me Dacey. 
       "Will he know it was you?" He looked away from me making my heart sink. I reached down and lifted his chin up to look at me. "Will you be ok?" "Course. I'm the toughest son of a bitch here." I gave him a small smile and quickly left the town. I pulled off my jacket and wrapped it around Dacey.

      Rick came running down when he saw me. He opened the gate and let me in. "Have you seen Glenn and Maggie?" "No. What happened?" He ignored me and I got up to the next gate. I got off Nelly and grabbed Dacey's bags. I walked inside the prison and saw a woman sitting at a table. I walked past her and Carl let me into the cell block. "Who's she?" "She hasn't told us. She showed up with the baby formula when Glenn and Maggie didn't show up." I nodded wondering if the Governor got to them. Daryl came down the stairs and stopped when he saw me getting my jacket off Dacey. "Who's that?" I looked around and walked up to him. "This would be your niece." "Mary's?" I nodded and she smiled up at Daryl. She reached up for him and I slowly handed her to him. "What's her name?" "Dacey. Merle named her." I caught myself and wanted to hit my head against the wall.
     "You saw Merle?" "Yeah. He wouldn't come with me. I think I know where Glenn and Maggie are." I turned around to see everyone watching me. "There's a town, Woodbury. It's walker free but the leader calls himself the Governor. He's dangerous and kills those who try to leave. I think he took Glenn and Maggie." "He did." They turned back to the woman and we got to planning.

      "Grace? Have you ever thought about having kids?" "Yeah. A family sounds great." "Same here." "What's this about?" She smiled and looked over at me. "I can't tell you yet. I'm not pregnant and far from it but I can't tell you." I nodded and laid my head back down on the grass. I caught her smiling to herself thinking about someone close to her heart.

      I smiled and pushed my hair back. Who would've thought she was thinking about a Georgia redneck. "You ready to go?" I looked up at Daryl and nodded. Carol took Dacey and we left the prison. "You shouldn't have come." "Why not?" He shrugged and looked back out the window. "Is this about Dacey?" "What if you're killed? Who will she have?" "She'll have you." "Who said I wanted her?" My hands balled into fist but I didn't say anything else. 
      We got out of the car and started walking to Woodbury. I knew Merle was acting like he did something terrible but this isn't him. As much as anyone here thought it was it wasn't. He isn't someone's errand boy. We went in a building and I looked through the window. Michonne pulled me back and I was ready to throw her head through the glass. "I'm going to get Merle." "Don't you dare move Grace. We find Glenn and Maggie and get out." "Fuck that." I crawled out the side window and went behind another building. I looked down the alley and saw Merle's apartment with just a straight dash to the door. I was going for it when I heard yelling. I looked over to see the flash of a gun. I ran through the chaos and kicked in Merle's door. I started cussing when I didn't find him in there. I grabbed a gun by the door and ran back out. I ran into Rick and we ran into another building. They tossed in flash grenades and we ran in. I grabbed Glenn and got him out. Daryl took a second to try and see through the smoke until he saw me. I was almost begging him to follow.
      We ducked into a building. I knew Daryl was dying to see Merle when he dropped his act and acted like a lost child. Rick calmed him and we got moving. They helped Glenn up and Daryl pulled me aside. "You sure he's safe?" "The Governor trusts him." "When we get out there help me lay down some cover fire." "Why me?" 
     "I trust you to have my back." I nodded and got my gun ready. We tossed out more flash and smoke grenades and they got moving. When we just made it out the door they spotted us. I got down and started shooting. I killed a man going after Daryl and we moved into an entry way. "How many?" "A lot more where that came from. We need to get moving. Now!" Daryl gave me the signal and we started laying down cover fire. I caught a glance at Daryl before falling back from the impact of something hitting me. "Grace!" "Im fine!" I got back up and continued shooting. I covered Daryl while he reloaded. Rick yelled for him but he told him to go. He glanced at me and gave me his famous nod. I returned it and continued to fire. I was about to reload when something hit me hard in the back of my head. "Grace!"