Chapter 3-He Your Brother?
****T's POV****
"Whoohoo!" Glenn screamed as we passed the cube van that held the others. 'I hope T-Dog unlocked Dixon. No one deserves to die like that.' I thought to myself as we pass the van. I shake my head as Glenn smiles at me. We had sort of became friends during the ride though it's almost like we're siblings, he reminds me of Yori in the way that he acts so I guess that's why we became such quick friends. He told me about his life before the world took a shit and asked me yes or no questions about mine to which I would answer with a nod or shake of my head. He also had me show a few signs like run, hide, search, and stop. As we were now on a dirt road he started to explain the people in his group that I didn't meet yet "There's Amy, Andrea's sister I'd say she's about the same age as you maybe little younger. Since it's hard to tell how old you are. Jim, a tall and skinny guy who was a mechanic. Lori, long brown hair and the mother of Carl, boy about 12 years old. Dale, old grandfather type. Shane, big guy who was a cop. Carol, short grayish hair, mother of Sophia, girl about 12 years old, wife of Ed, I suggest you stay away from him he has a very bad temper. Morales's wife, Miranda, and his 2 kids, Eliza and Louis, about 12 and 11. Then there's Daryl, Merle's brother, and a few others." I nod as we pull up next to other cars and people run to the car.
He parks the car getting out as someone yells "Holy Crap. Turn that damn thing off!" "I don't know how." Glenn says laughing as I reach over and pop the hood just as someone starts to tell him to do it. I get out and grab (now) my bow and the arrows, as someone tries to disconnect the battery and a girl I assume is Amy bombards Glenn with questions "Is she okay? Is she alright?" "She's okay! She's okay!" he replies so she asks, more distraught "Is she coming back? Why isn't she with you? Where is she? She's Okay?" "Yes! Yeah, fine. Everybody is. Well, Merle not so much." Glen answers as someone disconnects the battery. "Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?" a guy who I assume is Shane, as he talks like Rick, asks Glenn so a guy that has to be Dale says "I think we're okay." "You call being stupid okay?" Shane asks so Dale explains "Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source. I'm not arguing. I'm just saying. It wouldn't hurt you to think a little more carefully next time, would it?" "Sorry. Got a cool car." Glenn says and at that I smack my forehead as Dale nods reluctantly. It's then that the cube van pulls up.
Andrea jumps out and runs to Amy, and Morales goes to his wife and kids saying "I told you I'd be back, didn't I?" I walk over to the van, slinging my bow and the quiver over my shoulder to get my bag that I left in the van. I see Rick in the front and he shakes his head at me so I check the back of the van for Merle and my bag. He's not there so I grab my bag and make a mental note to ask Rick about Merle as Morales yells "Hey, Helicopter boy and quiet kid! Come say hello." I assume quiet kid is me so I follow Rick a few feet before he stops looking at a woman and a boy, who seem like who Glenn described as Lori and Carl then I think 'Wait Carl is Rick's sons name and they look like the people in his picture'. My thoughts were confirmed as Rick says "Oh my God" as the kid ran to him yelling "Dad! Dad!" Rick met Carl half way as Lori looked at the two shocked for a moment before she comes over and hugs both of them. I stand back and watch the happy family and looked around the group hoping for a familiar face. Glenn looks at me and I shake my head and turn to walk towards the van thinking 'My brothers not here, not that I thought he'd be but it would have been nice.'
"Hey, Dale you don't happen to have a notebook and pen for T?" Glenn asks causing me to stop and look at him and Dale to ask "Why?" "He's mute and he dropped his back in the city." "I'll go look for one for you." Dale, Lori, and Miranda told me so I nodded and went and got on top of the van. A few minutes later Dale comes over to the van holding a large notebook. I take it from him as I nod at him in thanks and open the notebook to the first page and started to write simple responses and questions that I would need commonly. "Dinner will be ready in an hour or so." He tells be before going back to the group. I start to clean the bow and the few arrows that I had making a mental note to make better ones or ask Glenn to go on a run with me to get some. It was dark by the time I finished sharpening the arrows as they were dull, that was the death of the walker I got them from. I hopped off the van and joined Rick and the others around the fire at the same time as Shane. I didn't like the vibe the Shane gave off most of the time so I waited for him to sit down before sitting down myself, next to Glenn. Suddenly Dale asks Rick "Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind." "I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me." T-Dog says. 'So he's still alive. I'll ask Rick in the morning if we're going back to get him.' I think to myself as Rick says "I cuffed him. That makes it mine." "Guys, it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this but it might sound better coming from a white guy." Glenn says so T-Dog says "I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him." "We could lie." Amy suggests causing Andrea to say "Or tell the truth. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's." "And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?" Dale asks Andrea before looking around at the others and adds "Word to the wise…..We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt." Glenn looks at me but I shake my head so he doesn't say anything. "I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it." T-Dog says causing Andrea to ask "We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" "I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that-not that chain, not that padlock. My point, Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." T-Dog says getting up and leaving. Slowly the others left to go to their beds, leaving me alone with Glenn. "You could share my tent. So you don't have to sleep on the ground or on top of that van." Glenn tells me. I sigh as I watch the embers of the fire start to go out and hear thunder in the distance before nodding.
****time skip till morning****
I was cleaning my bow on top of the van again as it was a good vantage point to watch the group do their chores. Glenn was upset that Dale and Jim took apart the sports car for parts and gas so he wasn't doing much but watch them take it apart. Shane had just come back with the water when a woman screamed followed by the kids screaming for their parents, I quickly grabbed an arrow and jumped off the van running towards the screams. I got there as Jacqui pulled them back from the walker eating a deer that had arrows sticking out of it and led them away. I notched my arrow and aimed it at the walker as the guys ran up, finally, and made a semi-circle around it. I stepped back as they started to beat it so I didn't get caught in the crossfire, with their stupidity it was a possibility, but kept my bow ready and aimed if needed. Dale decapitated it with an ax and says "It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain." "Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." Jim says before a branch snaps and there's a rustle in the bushes so everyone aims their weapons at the spot ready for whatever it was. A few moments later a guy with a crossbow comes out saying "Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this…" as he walks over to the walker and starts to kick it adding "Filthy, disease-bearing, motherless proxy bastard!" "Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale says so the guy who I assume is Daryl then says, while striding towards him "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond?" he turns away and starts to pull out his arrows adding "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" I turn and start walking away as Shane says "I would not risk that." Daryl then sighs and says "That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel, about a dozen or so. That'll have to do." But then I hear the walker opens its mouth so I quickly spin around and shoot it in the head at the same time as the guy does as he asks "Come on, people. What the hell? It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" Without noticing I did so he goes to get his arrow but pauses seeing mine as well. Glenn then looks at me and cheers "T one, walker head zero! T the one stop shop of awesomeness has done it again! If he can't do it no one can!" I glare at him as the others look at me like I grew another head. As I walk forward to get my arrow back Daryl pulls his and my arrow from the head, wipes them on the ground, and holds mine out to me. I nod as I take it from him and inspect it as it didn't fly like I wanted. "That was a nice shot. Considering your arrows not the best." He tells me quietly before walking off towards camp yelling for Merle. 'Well that went well. But now all hell's about to break lose.' I think to myself as I follow the others towards camp.
****Daryl's POV****
While tracking the deer I heard the kids' screams from camp and picked up my pace, I didn't care about the others but kids were a different matter. I reach a clearing with everyone pointing their weapon in my direction, a guy I haven't seen before aiming an arrow, that wasn't the best quality, at me a few feet away from the group but in front of the kids causing something to start to stir in the back of my mind. I then see my deer and a decapitated Walker. "Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this…" I yell walking over to the walker and start kicking it adding "Filthy, disease-bearing, motherless proxy bastard!" "Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale tells me so I approach him saying "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond?" turning away I start to pull out my arrows adding "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" The guy with the bow turns and starts walking away as Shane says "I would not risk that." I sigh and tell them "That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel, about a dozen or so. That'll have to do." But then I hear the walker opens its mouth so I shoot it in the head as I say "Come on, people. What the hell? It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" I go to get my arrow put pause seeing another arrow in the walkers head. All of a sudden Glenn cheers "T one, walker head zero! T the one stop shop of awesomeness has done it again! If he can't do it no one can!" while looking at the guy who is now glaring at him. As he walks forward to get his arrow back I pull both his and my arrow from the head, wipe them on the ground, and holds his out for him. He nods taking it from me and inspects it. 'He makes a successful shot with a poor arrow. He might be useful for future hunts.' I think to myself before telling him, quietly so only he could hear, "That was a nice shot. Considering your arrows not the best."
I then walking off towards camp yelling "Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up." "Daryl, just slow up a bit I need to talk to you." Shane says so I stop and ask "About what?" "About Merle. There was a-There was a problem in Atlanta." He tells me walking in front of me so I look between him and another new guy twice before asking "He dead?" "We're not sure." Shane answers so being angry now I yell "He either is or he ain't!" New guy then walks up to us and says "No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." "Who are you?" I ask/yell at him whipping around causing him to pause before saying "Rick Grimes." "Rick Grimes, you got something you want to tell me?" I ask him causing him to tell me "Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." "Hold on. Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" I ask/yell. I see red as he just answers "Yeah." So I throw the squirrels at him and go to punch him but Shane pushes me down. I pull out my knife and T-Dog yells "Watch the Knife!" I stand up and try to stab Rick but before I know it I'm on the ground with T on top of my chest, his legs on either side of me keeping me in place, my knife in his hands barely touching my neck, and his silver eyes watching my face calmly.
"You'd best let me go!" I yell at him as a feeling I haven't felt before, but showed up when I first saw him, made itself known in the back of my mind again. He shakes his head and Rick comes over and says "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" I don't reply so he asks again "Do you think we can manage that?" looking at T now, who nods. Rick then says "Yeah." So T scoots down to where he's sitting in my lap as I sit up keeping me from getting up to kick Rick's ass. "What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick says but then T-Dog says "It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it." "You couldn't pick it up?" I asked angry. "Well, I dropped it down a drain." He says and at this T gets up and offers me a hand. "If that's supposed to make me feel better it don't." I say as I get up on my own and start walking towards my tent. I stop when T-Dog says "Well, maybe this will. Look I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him. With a padlock." "It's gotta count for something." Rick says so I look around at everyone, except for T as he's no longer where he was, and say "Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is. So's I can go get him." "He'll show you." Lori says and we all look at her as she adds "Isn't that right." Rick nods and says "I'm going back." I look at him a moment before going to start skinning the squirrels as I wait for him. I then remember that T still had by knife so I look around and I see him on top of the van messing with his arrows. When he sees me coming he jumps off and holds out my knife to me handle first. I take it from him and walk away.
****T's POV****
I had just gotten back on the top of the truck when Glenn runs past Daryl towards me with my notebook that now had a piece of rope on it making it into a sort of necklace and the words "MUTE, CAN NOT SPEAK" on the cover in big letters. I just stay sitting on the van when Glenn says "Hey, I customized your notebook so you don't have to carry it and now people will know you don't speak." As he waved the thing above his head. I sling my bow and the quiver over my shoulder before I hop off the van. I land next to him and he quickly puts it around my neck and takes off running back to the others before I could hit him. I walk up and stand next to Glenn, smacking the back of his head, just as Shane asks Rick "Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like merle Dixon?" right in front of Daryl who says "Hey, Choose your words more carefully." "No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant. Merle Dixon, the guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst." Shane said and at that point I wanted to punch Shane in the face myself when Rick said the words I was thinking "What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst, me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." "So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori asks. Rick turns to look at Glenn and I asking with his face. I nod but Glenn says "Oh, come on." Rick then convinces Glenn by saying "You know the way. You've been there before, in and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask, I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." Motioning to Lori. "That's just great. Now you're gonna risk four men, huh?" Shane asks but T-Dog says "Five." At this Daryl huffs and says "My day just gets better and better, don't it?" T-Dog counters by saying "You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" "Why you?" Daryl asks so T-Dog answers "You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language." "That's five." Dale says but Shane jumps in and says "It's not just five. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."
Rick finally showing some smarts says "It seems to me what you really need most here…are more guns." "Right, the guns." Glenn says before Shane asks "Wait. What guns?" "Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when we got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up." Rick says so Shane asks "Ammo?" "700 rounds, assorted." Rick replies. "You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?" Lori says while Carl says "Dad, I don't want you to go." "To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in. Tell me. Make me understand." Lori says standing up so Rick walks towards her saying "I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy. Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them and T that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow us to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap we did if I don't warn him." "What's stopping you?" she asks so Rick replies "The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer." "These are our walkies?" Shane asks so Rick replies "Yeah…" trailing off. "So use the C.B. What's wrong with that?" Andrea asks so Shane explains "The C.B.'s fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap. Date back to the '70s, don't match any other bandwidth not even the scanners in our cars." Lori looks at the ground then back at Rick as he says "I need that bag." Before walking over and kneeling in front of Carl adding "Okay?" Carl nods so Rick says "All right." And pats him on the head. I then went with Glenn and Daryl to back up the van. Glenn drove as Daryl and I were in the back. After the van stopped Daryl started pacing back and forth so much that I thought about tripping him but I decide against it and started drawing a picture of Yori to show people when I asked about him, ignoring the conversation going on outside the van. Daryl then honked the horn with his foot and yelled "Come on, let's go!" As T-Dog is climbing in the van Shane says "Five men, five rounds. What are the odds, huh? Let's just hope that five is your lucky number, okay?" "God dammit! Stop jinxing me fuckers!' I yell in my head at them as I glare at them.
After everyone was in the van, T-Dog shut the back as Glenn started driving. A few minutes go by of T-Dog watching me draw before he asks "What are you drawing?" Rick looks back at us and says "I want to know to." I sigh and flip my half-finished drawing for them to see. Daryl is the first one to speak as he asks "He your brother?" There was a hint of something in his voice that I couldn't identify so I just nod and T-Dog asks "Where is he?" I look down as Rick says "He doesn't know for sure. Last he heard he was at the CDC." "Oh, sorry-"T-Dog start before being cut off by Glenn saying "We'll find him. Even if we have to walk there." I was expecting Daryl to say something mean at this as his brother is also missing, well…chained to a roof, so I look up at him but he just looks away from me. We get closer to the city and I'm now half-finished with my drawing of Merle, I figured it would be useful if somehow he wasn't there anymore, as Daryl looks at T-Dog and says "He better be okay. It's my only word on the matter." "I told you the geeks can't get at him. The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us." T-Dog says before Glenn stops the van and says "We walk from here." So we all get out and start to jog towards the city. When we go through an opening in a fence Rick asks "Merle first, or guns?" I point to Daryl who says "Merle! We ain't even having this conversation." As I nod in agreement. "We are. You know the geography. It's your call." Rick tells Glenn who says "Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first." We then start jogging again.
*****Time skip*****
We're in the department store again sticking close together and watching for walkers. Rick's leading and puts a hand up to stop us then signals for me to take out the walker as my bow is slightly quieter than Daryl's crossbow. I notch an arrow as I walk in front of him and aim. As Daryl says "Damn. It's one ugly skank." I shoot it in the head. I go to get my arrow but Daryl blocks me as a walker comes around the corner and he shoot it in the head. He then nods at me and we go get our arrows and wipe them off, him on his pants me on one of the shirts in the store. We don't encounter any more walkers as we make our way to the roof. When we get to the top of the stairway T-Dog breaks the lock with bolt cutters and Daryl kicks the door open yelling "Merle! Merle!" as he runs onto the roof but we don't find Merle only his sawed off hand as Daryl yells "No!" "Well shit." I write in my notebook and turn it around.
