Merle and Michonne have teamed up because as much as they would hate to admit it; they need each other. Merle wants to find Daryl and he is resourceful but he only has one hand. I also think that Merle doesn't like to be by himself. He likes to talk too much for a life of solitude. Michonne can't rescue Andrea by herself and I think that even our resident ninja doesn't want to wander the zombie wasteland all by her lonesome any more. So, for now they are …
Reluctant Allies
Michonne drove their new old truck and Merle navigated and talked. Merle was one of those annoying people who woke up in a good mood and let those around him know it. He was calling her "Sissy" again this morning and asking too many questions. She gave him her enigmatic look but Merle was too busy hanging his head out the window and yelling insults at the walkers. It was like traveling with a sixteen year old with no impulse control.
They had found the traffic snarl that had stopped Andrea's group. Merle walked around the site. He knew from Andrea's stories to Michonne that Sophia had been lost here and Daryl had begun the hunt for her. The farm had to be close. He decided that they would drive around the area looking for a mailbox with "Greene" written on it. Merle was feeling good though. He was out of Woodbury and on the hunt for Daryl. He was having a damn good time pushing Michonne's buttons today too. She would love to set him out beside the road like an unwanted dog but she needed him. Merle chose not to think that he needed her too.
Michonne wasn't surprised when they found the mailbox leaning a bit in the weeds that were taking over rural Georgia. Merle flipped from ebullient teenager to cautious soldier in a moment. He checked his arm bayonet and his pistol and rolled the window up. Michonne had her katana on the seat beside her and she drove more slowly and kept checking the road behind her for walkers.
The road eventually opened up to open fields and pastures. The large white farmhouse stood on a little rise like a jewel in the crown. There were a few walkers wandering around but nothing that they couldn't handle.
Michonne parked the truck on the road in front of the house. Merle hopped out on his side and casually took down a curious walker. They walked around the grounds of the farm. One barn had burned completely but there were two others on the property. There were wells though one was obviously polluted.
Together they cleaned out the house. It looked as if everyone must have been living in the house when the herd came in. They went through their things and Merle grabbed Daryl's backpack and loaded it in the truck. Michonne loaded Andrea's but was surprised when Merle grabbed one that belonged to the woman who had lost her daughter. Merle looked at Michonne, "If Daryl is protecting her then she might still be alive." He stood still for a moment and Michonne could see that he was thinking about the people at the quarry with him. "She was always working, always taking care of everybody, and she loved that little girl. There are some photographs of Sophia in there and none of Ed."
The house had not been scavenged, and they collected some food. Michonne and Merle ate a midday meal on the front porch while they watched the walkers roam around the fields. "Why did they never come back?" Michonne wondered. Merle could be a good listener when he wanted.
"Because it hurt too much to lose it the first time, I reckon," Merle replied. He and Michonne had driven around the property and he had been impressed with the geographic features that formed natural barriers. "Dumb asses, to let their emotions keep them from a place that they could have defended. Strong walls around house and gardens. Fences along the part that opens up to the swamp. They could have come back and made a stand here, but they are wandering around like Moses in the wilderness looking for a promised land and they already had it".
Michonne sighed, "Merle, where do we go to look for Daryl? He isn't here and hasn't been since last fall. That was seven months ago. They could be anywhere by now." It was understood and unsaid that she was saying that they could all be dead.
Merle rubbed his short hair and his face. He wasn't giving up and she wasn't going to either, "Let's look at the map again. Little Sister". Merle picked took his knife and cut a circle around the farmhouse site. They are from Georgia and they'll avoid big town and cities. What do you think, Michonne"?
Michonne looked at the map and began to think out loud. "They will stick together. They have a pregnant woman with them so they'll be looking for a safe place with strong walls already in place. I don't think they will join another group because they won't trust anyone else. Rick will be the man in charge and he had been a deputy sheriff. He will want a place that represented security for him… like a jail or a prison… someplace where people who got locked in couldn't get out easily. If they couldn't get out then maybe it would keep walkers out."
It all made sense to both of them. Merle looked at the map again. It might be a regional jail or a small correctional facility. If it was too big then there would be too many walkers to clear. He looked at the map and suddenly remembered the old prison that the Governor had him to check out. Merle had looked the place over and there were a shitload of walkers in and around the prison. The back of the place was open and more could pour in at any time. He had reported back to the Governor that the place could not be taken. Merle had spent too much of his life in prisons to risk his life to take it for no good reason. The Governor had accepted his recommendation without any more questions.
Michonne looked at Merle. "What is it? Did you think of a place?"
Merle pointed to the location of the prison. "There is an old prison that the state of Georgia was using when the world went to shit. It's less than twenty miles from Woodbury though". He went ahead to tell her about what he had found at the prison.
They decided to stay the night at the farm. They left the house and cleaned out a horse stable. Merle went hunting and Michonne had some time to herself. Checking out the prison was scary because it would bring her closer to Woodbury and she knew that the Governor would be sending out patrols to look for her and Merle. Michonne still wanted to laugh at the thought that she was now an ally of Merle. It must be some enemy of my enemy is my friend scenario.
Dinner was canned vegetables and grilled rabbit. Merle had been surprised at how little she knew about setting snares and traps and hunting small game. After they ate he took her into the woods and fields of the farm and showed her how to set a simple snare. He was silent in the woods and the hyper teenager of the morning was completely gone. He was a good teacher though and Michonne recognized that he had skills that she did not. She and Andrea had survived by scavenging out of cars and houses.
That evening they sat side by side in the open loft of the stable and talked in low voices. "We need to check everything out from this place to that prison. Then we can start there and work our way back here. We keep doing that until we have checked out this circle," Michonne said. She knew that Merle wasn't going to give up on finding Daryl. She wouldn't stand a chance getting Andrea out on her own so she was going to have to stay with the search. Besides she knew that Andrea wasn't ready to leave Woodbury yet.
Merle was enjoying the evening and he was ready to razz Michonne a little. "How did you and Blondie survive all winter without knowing how to hunt? Can't live on looove you know". He stretched out the o in love to particularly annoy her.
Michonne sighed, the Good Merle had disappeared and the Mean Merle was back. "We survived on canned food more than love. As soon as you teach me how to hunt better maybe we can live on love and squirrel". Merle laughed at that but promised to take her hunting the next morning. She knew that Merle enjoyed his lesbian fantasies about her and Andrea. Michonne had lost her boyfriend and her son when all this hit and she and Andrea were just friends.
She got him talking about Daryl and he talked for a long time about his little brother. According to Merle the boy (he must be over 40 and still called a boy) was too good for his own good. "My brother is a pussy. He'll be working his ass off to keep the others alive and they'll just be thinking he's redneck trash."
Michonne said, "Maybe he is with Carol and she doesn't sound like a woman who would think he's redneck trash. Maybe they are somewhere living on love and squirrel." Andrea had talked about Carol and Daryl being so close but no one in the camp really knew what was going on between them. Andrea had really liked Carol but had been afraid that she might have been killed that night at the farm.
"The squirrel part sounds like Daryl, but he's backward when it comes to women. Carol had a good rack and a fine ass and Daryl was sniffing after her at the quarry. The boy thinks too much. If he would just do what comes natural then he would be ass deep in horny women. My father treated our mother like shit and that messed with Daryl's head." Merle face twisted a bit and Michonne knew that he had said more than he meant to.
Merle nudged her shoulder. "Little Sister, I trust you enough to watch while I go to sleep. Then I'll watch while you sleep. We'll go hunting tomorrow morning and get breakfast." He went back into the loft and rolled himself into his blanket.
Michonne looked at the farm. Andrea had told her that they had felt safe until the herd came and ran them out. It was quiet out there now. She thought about her son. Michonne had thought about him when Merle was teaching her how to set snares. She had wished that her boy had been beside her learning how to survive. It was going to be a bad night for sleep; she should just stay up all night and let Merle sleep.
Merle woke up and took over watch. Michonne surprised herself by falling asleep quickly and she was fast asleep when Merle shook her awake. "Rise and shine, Sissy. Let's go hunting."
Michonne complained because it was still dark, but she rolled over and got up quickly. Soon, they were headed into the woods and Merle showed her how to hunt squirrels. He also pointed out edible plants as they moved along. He told her that he wasn't using a gun this close to their camp because a shot would ring the dinner bell for walkers. They went to the snares that they had set yesterday and found a couple of rabbits.
Together they cooked breakfast. Michonne complimented Merle on his cooking, "Either had to learn how to cook or starve to death when I was a boy. My mother spent her days half drunk. So when I was home I cooked for me and Daryl. I needed a little sister who could cook for me."
Michonne had just laughed at him when he said that and she realized that she was completely comfortable with Merle. He treated her like a sister; he had kept his racist rants to himself. He was teaching her valuable skills and she really didn't want to be out here by herself.
Merle was caught by how her face changed when she smiled. They were playing well together and he found her good company. Together they could find Daryl and then they would sneak into Woodbury and rescue Blondie. It was weird how he didn't see her as a desirable woman. He usually thought all women were worthy of his sexual interest but he really did think of her as a sister, a fellow warrior, and a teammate. He hoped he wasn't going through some sort of male menopause and start being a complete pussy that wore sweaters and shit like that.
Merle behaving himself is a complete switch but that is the joy of writing fan fiction. You get to twist your characters around to please yourself.
The next chapter is going to be a prison chapter. So we are going to drop in and check on Daryl and Carol. Might be some love and squirrel happening. Let's hope tonight's episode is a good one.
Please let me know how you like this story. Reviews are in order.
