Once A Dixon, Always A Dixon (Daryl Dixon)

Brother vs. Brother

Setting: Woodbury, Season Three

*Nico's POV*

I wake up in a room. I'm in agony. My bones feel like they're on fire. It hurts, everything hurts. My left thigh is bleeding something fierce. I try to scream, but nothing comes out. There's a chain in my mouth, servicing as a gag.

Disgusting. It's rusty and tastes like blood. I fight the urge to throw up.

"Looks like you're awake," a cruel voice says. I open my eyes to see the Governor minus one eye.

"Where the hell am I?" I ask.

"You won't be in this room anymore," he says and roughly grabs my arm. He ties two chains to each of my arms and drags me outside. He drags me to a small arena.

People are screaming and chanting. The Governor puts the chains in Martinez's hands.

I see Merle standing a few feet away. For the first time ever, I can see fear glistening in his eyes.

The Governor walks to the center of the arena.

"What can I say?" he starts. "Hasn't been a night like this since the walls were completed. And I thought we were passed it. Passed the days when we were all sad, huddled, scared, and sitting in front of the TV, during the early days of the outbreak. The fear we all felt then, we felt it again tonight. I failed you. I promised to keep you safe. Now look at me. You know, I should tell you that we'll be okay, that we're safe. And tomorrow, we'll bury our dead. But I won't. Because I can't. Because I'm afraid. That's right, I'm afraid of terrorists who want what we have! Who want to destroy us! Worse, one of those terrorists is one of our own."

What the hell was he going on about?

"Merle Dixon!" he finishes. Martinez takes the knife off of Merle's makeshift hand and some dude points a crossbow at him.

Holy shitcicles. That's Daryl's bow!

"The man I counted on!" the Governor continues his stupid ramble. "The man I trusted! He led them here! He let them in!"

Merle looks ready to kill him. The Governor turns to him with a murderous gleam in his eyes.

I mean, eye.

"It was you," he says to Merle. "You lied; you betrayed us all!"

I see two men drag a person in. The person is fighting and grunting.

"This," the Governor points to the person. "is one of the terrorists."

The Governor whips the bag off the person's head.

It's Daryl.

"Daryl!" I scream. Daryl looks at me and the blood leaves his face.

"Merle's own brother!" the Governor yells. The look on Merle's face is heartbreaking. He was shooting at his own brother and he didn't know it.

The Governor forcefully pushes Daryl towards Merle. He walks over to me. His hands creep around my waist and pulls me close. I fight it, but Martinez has a strong grip on my chains.

Daryl stares at a person in the audience. That person is Andrea.

"Traitor!" I scream to her. "You fucking traitor! You bitch, I'll kill you!"

"What should we do with them, huh?" the Governor asks the audience.

"Kill them!" everyone yells.

The Governor walks to Merle. "You wanted your brother. Now you got him."

Andrea runs to the Governor.