❛ now daryl, daryl was gray. he always seemed to be bitter and emotionless with no other dimensions to himself; his mere presence was the only one. gray was intriguing, almost acting like an acquired taste, but it had the potential to be beautiful t...
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eleven.
My awakening felt suffocating; I was yanked from my chair, something being placed over my head to block my vision. It hurt to walk as I was pulled forward, the wound on my leg stinging with every step I took. The air around me turned from cold and damp to warm and dry within seconds. I could hear muffled cheering and screaming, the voices thunderous. A strong pair of hands grabbed me, dragging me towards them and holding me tight so their nails dug into my skin.
"Ladies and gentlemen," a muffled voice bellowed next to me. "I present to you one of the terrorists: my daughter." People gasped as I was suddenly blinded by the bright arena lighting. I squinted, slowly opening my eyes back up to scan the crowd. The residents of Woodbury booed and yelled profanities at me. My dad shoved me and I stumbled forward, falling and struggling to stand back up. My legs shook while my brain stayed foggy. "And another: Merle's own brother." My heart skipped a beat; they got Daryl. He thrashed around in my dad's grip, seemingly petrified. He was shoved and he stumbled just like me. After catching his balance, he turned his head towards me. His locked his eyes with mine, his face seeming to go pale at my tattered appearance: my leg covered with dry blood, my slashed cheek, my torn clothes, my ratty hair, all the bruises covering my body. He shot me a glare then looked away. My jaw dropped in disbelief. What did I ever do to him?
"What should we do with them," my dad asked the crowd.
"Kill them! Kill them! Kill them," they chanted, pumping their fists into the air. I cowered back into a corner, trembling as I finally found the strength to stand.
"I asked you where your loyalties lie, you said here," my dad snarled at Merle, who I just noticed was standing in the middle of the ring. "Prove it. Prove it to us all; you against both of them, winner goes free. Fight to the death!" The crowd began to chant again, this time with more excitement and hatred than before.
"Y'all know me," Merle addressed them. "I'm gonna do whatever I gotta do to prove that my loyalty is to this town," he smiled before suddenly punching Daryl in the face. I gasped, the crowd erupting. Merle and Daryl began choking each other, rolling around on the ground as I stayed in the corner. Merle quickly glanced over at me. "Stay back," he hollered. I nodded, trembling. People behind me began to get angry with me, attempting to even put their hands on me to shove me forward into the action. They wanted me to fight.
After a few minutes, five men entered the arena each with a biter on some type of leash. Merle and Daryl sprang up from the ground as the biters surrounded them in a circle. They reached for both of them, hoping to get a meal.
A man released one of the biters and it barreled over to me. When it got close enough, I pushed it away with all the strength I could muster. It relentlessly came back at me faster and faster each time I pushed it back. My tactic was no use; I grew weaker and weaker by the second. The biter came at me one last time. It knocked me over to the ground, its force too much for me. I tried to push it off as it fiercely bit the air, hungry for my warm flesh. My arms began to give out. I let out a wail of distress as it opened its mouth as wide as it could, leaning down towards my arm. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the horrible pain that was about to hit me like a bus, but it never came and instead the weight lifted from my arms. I opened my eyes to see the biter's head being stomped on by Merle.
A crack echoed in the night sky, one of the biters falling to the ground. Everyone's delighted screams turned into that of fear, a girl dropping dead from one of the many bullets that were being fired. A few biters staggered towards the audience, reaching for them. The crowd frantically ran for cover as a biter grabbed a man, sinking his teeth into his neck. A smoke bomb went off in the middle of the ring, clouding everything with dirt and dust. I began to cough, pulling myself up off the ground. The lights above us were being shot out one by one, my body jolting in fear with every shot. Everything was now dark, the residents running around in various directions which made it harder for me to make out my surroundings. I managed to hobble out into the street among the terrified civilians.
"Aften," someone called out from the darkness. I turned around to see Carl motioning for me to come towards him. I limped as fast as I could over to him, but soon felt someone's arms wrap around me and violently pull me back. I screamed, trying to break free from the tight grasp. Carl raised his gun. The unidentified person raised their gun as well, firing a shot at Carl.
"No," I bellowed as he fell to the ground. I could hear him crying out in pain, clutching his arm. The person behind me knocked me out with the butt of their gun.
△
Carl's POV
A woman showed up at our prison with two swords: one of them was hers and the other was Aften's. She told us a man called the Governor took her, Merle, Daryl, Maggie, and Glenn. I remembered Aften saying that her dad was the leader of her town... was this him? The woman led us to a small town called Woodbury to get the five of them back.
We hustled over to the arena where we heard people cheering; my dad was planning to throw a smoke bomb in the middle of it to distract them. I stood on my tip-toes to see what was going on. Merle and Daryl were surrounded by walkers while Aften was pushing one away.
"They're in there," I told my dad.
"Get ready," he nodded in approval before shooting at one of the walkers, me following his lead. I accidentally missed my target, killing a girl. The crowd began to scream in horror before my dad threw the smoke bomb over the side of the wall. Everyone began to bolt out into the street once they saw the smoke. We ran amongst them to blend in. I caught a glimpse of Aften limping out of the arena. I called out to her. When she turned around, I motioned for her to come towards me so I could take her and lead her towards safety. She moved as fast as she could, but a figure I could barely make out ran up behind her. They began to drag her away so I cocked my gun. I was ready to shoot whoever that was. It all happened so fast: they raised their gun, firing at me. The bullet hit my arm and I dropped to the ground. I hollered out in pain, cradling my arm as best as I could to try and stop the bleeding.
"No!" I heard Aften wail. My body shook violently, pain surging through my veins. I hissed through gritted teeth as blood leaked out of my wound and through my fingers. I weakly lifted my head to see Aften being dragged away: what was intended to happen to her in the first place. They weren't gonna let her go without an all out war.
