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Chapter Two

It didn't take Merle too long to get his strength back. The need to get to the quarry, and his brother, was burning strong. He didn't like the thought of him out there with that group of fucking idiots. He was younger than Merle. He was impressionable and it had been a long damn time since they had been in a situation where Merle wasn't around to make the calls. Daryl was wild enough to come looking for him alone and he was pretty damn sure that none of the others from the group would bother to come with him. He had to hurry and get to camp before his brother got hurt.

After he made sure his brother was okay he was planning on making sure that prick cop paid for what he did. If he was positive he wouldn't have trouble finding it he would cuff the bastards dick to his tail pipe and drag him around hells creation. Then he'd turn him into walker chow.

His wrist hurt like a mother fucker by the time they made it to the first landing but he didn't say anything. Pain wasn't too hard to ignore if you knew how to do it. He'd learned early on in life that pain was one of those things that clung to a man and you had no choice but to learn how to shut it off. You shut it off any goddamn way you could. You buried it deep. You pushed through it. A fucked up wrist was nothing compared to some things he'd endured.

When he finally stepped onto the narrow landing of the fire escape he had no choice but to crowd in next to the woman. He flexed his hand but that was the only indication that he was uncomfortable. He must have been out of his goddamn mind for a while up there to be able to do that much damage to himself without even remembering.

"Let's take a breather," Madison muttered.

He shook his head. "I gotta get to my brother. No time for breaks."

"I understand that but I was thinking that since you were able to hold down those fluids that you might want to get a little food in your system. We're probably gonna be running as soon as our feet touch the ground down there. I can't have you stumbling around."

He grumbled. "Would you quit that shit. I've spent the better part of my life not bein' mother henned. I sure as fuck don't need nobody to start now."

"Oh Lord, get over yourself, Merle Dixon. Shut up and eat some jerky for God's sake. I bet when you're at your peak you can't get enough of hearing yourself talk, can you?"

"What the fuck were you before the world went belly up? A goddamn motivational speaker?" He snapped, taking a bite of the jerky she offered him. He didn't want to admit that she was right and he would need his energy.

"No I wasn't. I was a cashier at a whole foods store," she said, not sounding like she was making it up. "But that doesn't mean I can't motivate. I can motivate the hell out of you if my life depends on it, which I believe it does at this point. I don't want to be alone out here anymore. It's too damn hard."

He couldn't really argue with her there. He hadn't really had to deal with anything on his own out here. He knew he could. He was resilient if nothing else. She wasn't him, though, and she was damn lucky to have made it as long as she had.

Neither one of them said anything else as they climbed down as silently as they could. The clouds thinned out over head and in the scarce light from the stars he tried to make out her features but it was to no avail. He couldn't even tell her hair color. They paused when they were just one floor up from the sidewalk below. He'd have to go down another ladder and then jump down the last five feet or so. His wrist protested the thought of another ladder but he ignored it.

"It seems quiet now. We can look for a car unless you would rather try to make it to your brother on foot," she whispered.

He shook his head and leaned in a little closer. "Camp's too far. We'll have to find some wheels. You're right though. It looks pretty clear down there."

"Are you going to let me stay with you and your brother after you get him?" She asked.

He scowled. Him and Daryl had only been with that group for a few days. The plan had been to get in, take what they could from the unsuspecting bastards and then get out. That was what was suppose to have happened. But then, of course, Merle had overdone it on his stash and had stayed pretty lit the whole time him and Daryl had been with them. It looked like their plans were fouled but as long as he could get there before Daryl did something stupid then he would call it a win.

But bringing some woman along with them had never been in their plans. It was him and Daryl. It always had been just the two of them. And he knew his brother. Daryl wouldn't like this at all. He hadn't wanted to join that other group in the first place. He'd tried to talk Merle into just keeping to themselves but Merle wouldn't listen. Damn if he didn't wish he had. "Why the hell would you wanna take off with two strange men when you could join a group full of women and kids and men that can at least half assed keep you alive? You'd be better off stayin' with them. It wasn't the whole group that left me stranded up there. Just a couple of bad apples. Worlds full of them." Wasn't that the damn truth. He was one of the worst apples in the whole goddamn batch but he wasn't about to tell her that.

She didn't say anything so he just assumed that she would go ahead and agree that he was right. And he was. He didn't have the patience to look after some fuckin' woman anyway.

Without another word he took the ladder and then hopped down to the sidewalk. He felt naked. He didn't have any weapons on him short of a knife she had handed him. There was only so much a man could do with a knife if he was faced with a whole fucking group of those things. Once she hopped down beside him he cursed himself for not helping her down.

Not that he was the least bit fucking chivalrous, but it would have been a perfect opportunity to cop a feel. He chuckled to himself.

"What's so funny?" She asked as they started to round the building.

"Nothin'. Let's just keep our eyes peeled, huh? We need a damn car before my dip shit baby brother walks his ass all the way to Atlanta to peel me off that roof."

"You think he'd do that? Come here alone, I mean?" She whispered.

He shrugged. "It's always just been me and him. I think he'd do what he could to get to me. I'd do the same."

"That's sweet," she said, her voice carrying a sadness that had him frowning.

He remembered her mention dead sisters. Usually he wasn't the type to sympathize with others but this was something that he could understand. He wasn't the greatest brother in the world and he knew it. He did too many fucking drugs and most of the time he was so damn involved with himself that he seemed aloof to anything else. But he knew that if something ever happened to his brother, especially on his watch, that it would kill him.

He didn't comment. There wasn't anything he could say that would make her feel any better and it wasn't his damn place to bother anyway. He grudgingly had to admit, though, that if there was something he could say to ease her pain, he probably would.

The first car they came upon was locked up tight and since they had spotted a couple of biters already he didn't want to risk breaking a window. It would be his luck to break out a window, draw every damn biter to the city down on their heads and then the car wouldn't even start.

Merle stopped when he spotted something lying there in the middle of the road. At first he thought it was a small body but as they drew closer he was starting to think it was something else. He took off towards the center of the street and toed it with his boot.

"What is it?" Maddy hissed from the sidewalk.

Merle pulled it towards him and unzipped it. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he realized what he had. He glanced over his shoulder and then his eyes scanned the area around them before he gave a low whistle. "It's a game changer, woman. We just hit the goddamn jackpot."

She took a hesitant step onto the street after him as he lifted the bag and shouldered it. She stopped as soon as her foot was on the street. He still couldn't really see a whole lot though. "What does that even mean?"

"Guns. Right here in the middle of the street," he grinned.

The grin froze and then died as he turned around. Out of nowhere they heard the roar of an engine and then a car came screeching around the corner. Everything happened fast. He was finally able to see her in the glare of the headlights baring down on him. He heard her scream his name. He felt his legs moving but he knew there was no fucking way he was going to be able to get out of the way.

He heard the breaks squeal before he felt the impact. It was strange because it was more jarring than it was painful. He felt the sensation of rolling but didn't feel the bumps and bangs he knew he should be feeling.

Fuck. What a fucked up day.

That was his last thought before the world went black.