Daryl kneels on his knees, the back of his shirt torn apart, revealing the intricate demon tattoos and aged scars carved along his back. He can feel his brother's eyes staring at him in silent shock. The younger man briefly struggles, but manages to get back on his feet.
I'm done. He decides right then and there. He's done dealing with his brother's careless ways. After all, they had just saved an innocent family with a baby from walkers, then Merle had to threaten them further by trying to rob them.
What was the whole damn point of doing it, then?
Merle speaks to him, his gruff voice soft with uncharacteristic concern for his little brother, asking about their abusive asshole of a father. Daryl barely listens to his words, though, wanting nothing more than to walk away and never look back.
Sure, Merle was the only blood he had left in this world, but all the past months he had with Rick's group… They were actually a family to him, people he could fight and give his own life for.
Even before the world went to shit, Merle had left him behind with their Pa, as a defenseless kid weak enough to be whipped and beaten like a boxer's punching bag. All those scars lay upon his back as the words to his story… Daryl's story…
Now, not only is he a man, but a changed one. A man who can care about people and not be humiliated if he showed his softer side… But who knew it would take the fucking end of the world for Daryl Dixon to come into his own, and be the man he wanted to be without the presence of his daddy and Merle.
He gathers up his pack of belongings to conceal the pattern of cruelty on his bare back as his brother starts to protest the prospect of being left behind. Hell, he was abandoned once…he could deal with it again, right? But what the hell was he gonna do, cut off his other goddamn hand?
This time, Daryl knows where he belongs, and that's at the prison with the group he's admittedly grown to care about like his own family, people he trusted and who needed him as a valued source of protection and man-power…and as a friend.
Daryl didn't have many of those in the past.
He walks away from his brother, his boots stepping on dried grass and twigs, ignoring the lump in his chest as Merle calls after him. He tells of about trying to kill the black samurai woman Michonne and beating Glenn to a pulp. That alone is enough for Daryl to figure out that he has to embark back to the prison by himself. Back to Rick, Carol, Lil' Asskicker…
He just wishes it didn't take him a whole day to discover that it was with his group that he belonged. Merle was his past now, and the group was his present…and hopefully a future.
Guess it goes to show there's a thicker line between blood and true family… But, he hopes Merle will come back to the prison with him. I'm sorry, brother, but I ain't the little boy I was years ago…