My Uncle Merle? When Momma asked me if I remembered him, I had to strain to produce the memory of his face in my head. He was….very intimidating to me. However, the name always produces a pang of guilt and waves of sadness.

I have just 2 clear memories of him. The day we had to leave my first home, a literal prison. It's the only thing I can recall about it. I remember the gunfire, the popping sound making me shake with fear. Momma had AK and me in her arms, running for Daddy's truck. We made it and she pushed us into the floor of the truck, shhhing us as we wailed. Uncle Merle slid into the driver's side and fired the old truck up, immediately hitting the gas. I could see the blade that replaced his right hand resting on the seat in between Momma and him. His left hand gripped the wheel as he tore through the gate, knocking it down. He then backed up and slung open the driver's side door.

"Move your ASS brother!" Uncle Merle shouted. Daddy jumped into the truck and threw it into gear, only shutting the door as an after-thought.

I could smell Uncle Merle's feet through his old leather boots. I looked up at his face and he smiled, looking down at me.

"It's alright now girlie, your Pa and Uncle Merle ain't going to let anything happen to you. Same goes for you Lil' Ass Kicker."

This only made me cry harder. I don't think that I ever saw him smile at me, and for some reason, between the bullets and his unnatural looking smile, I remember being terrified.

My second memory is equally terrifying. It was some time after we left our prison. We had found a rambling farm, 5 separate farms really. It was heaven, an answered prayer.

AK and I were outside playing with Momma. Daddy and Uncle Merle were adding yet another fence around the entire property.

The story goes that the farms were abandoned. Almost as if the folks just evaporated. They left behind a lot of what we needed along with rolls and rolls of fencing. This along with its remote location made it easy to clear out and move in.

What I remember is AK and I picking wild flowers near Momma. I could see her hanging sheets on a line that Uncle Rick hung. I saw a lady bug crawling on the leaf on a dandelion. Then I heard it. A low growl and hiss. Then I smelled it. A horrible stench that made me turn to AK and hold my nose.

Then, I heard my Momma scream, a scream so loud and so full of fear that I immediately began to shake.

I saw Daddy way over on the other side of the property. He was running as fast as his feet could carry him.

Momma was blocked at all sides by the hissing walkers surrounding us. I closed my eyes. I know I wet my pants. Suddenly I heard a cry of pain and opened my eyes to see Uncle Merle standing between us and the walkers. He had thrown himself at them. Three were latched on to him.

"Run Dixie baby, Run AK, go to Daddy! RUN babies!" he grimaced.

Just then Daddy screamed in grief. He fired off an arrow taking down one of the walkers, the other two he made quick work of with his knife.

It was too late. Uncle Merle was bleeding out from various bite wounds.

Momma scooped us up and ran toward the house. Just as she stepped on the porch the pop of a gun went off. She opened the door and collapsed inside, clutching us to her chest and cried like I'd never heard her cry before.

That night, in my bed, I heard my Daddy cry, for the first time in my life.

Uncle Merle died for me. Died for AK.

"Yeah, I remember Uncle Merle" I whispered to Momma.