The atmosphere was a bit tense in the little restaurant off the convenience store, Merle Dixon of all people to run into. He hadn't tried to kill Rick, Andrea or Glenn but this was Merle Dixon. Daryl was dangerous but but the group knew him well enough to know it took some riling to get him to that point, but what they remembered of Merle was that he was like an angry rattler coiled to strike.

Daryl and Merle were sitting together at a table in the corner talking.

"Told Rick the only person that could kill you was you." Daryl said to his brother. "It's just too bad T-Dog ain't here. What happened on that roof weighed on him pretty bad. He went back with us, felt responsible."

"Went back?" Merle asked.

"Yeah, we went back to get you. Me, Rick, T-Dog and Glenn. We wasn't but a few minutes behind you. Blood was still tacky when we got to the roof. Hell, the Sterno hadn't even burnt out in that kitchen, iron was cool enough to touch, so couldn't have been over 10, 15 minutes."

"I see Ranger Rick, what happened to T-Dog? And I don't see Walsh either." Merle said.

"Shane lost it, completely flipped out. Killed some guy named Otis, was a part of Hershel's group. Then set up this plan to get Rick in the woods and kill him too. Woulda only been a matter of time before he got round to me. Rick killed Walsh, and Rick's kid put a bullet in his head and put him down. They was best friends before all this, partners on the force and shit."

"And the nigger?" Merle prodded.

"Don't call him that!" Daryl snapped. "He went back for you, tried to do right by you. And he always done right by me. He went down a couple of days ago keepin' walkers off my back. I'm sittin' here talkin' to you right now cause of T-Dog, he died savin' my ass which is more'n most anyone else woulda done for a Dixon.

Sides that boy over there has one hell of a tan to be hangin' out with you."

"You're right baby brother, I guess those old habits die hard. But that kid over there is one tough little git. Had kept himself alive at Ft Benning for over a week with the place full of geeks. Only other kid I ever knew close to bein' that tough is sittin' cross the table from me. Difference is, Duane ain't had no rash on his ass Darylina." Merle said with a snort.

Daryl looked at Merle for a moment before the laughter overtook him. "Damn if my ass didn't itch for a solid week! I swear I walk in the door scratching the hell out my ass and the only thing the old man said was get me a beer. Made damned sure I opened it with the hand I'd been scratchin' with!"

Everyone gawked at the Dixon brothers rolling with laughter.

"Are we sure that is really Daryl and Merle?" Andrea asked.

"Maybe they got abducted by aliens and these are just replicas, like in Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Glenn suggested.

"It's definitely a different side of them." Lori added.

"They had both given up hope of ever seeing each other again. In the short time I've known Daryl; I've learned he's not the type for hugs, kisses and tears. I get the feeling his brother is a lot like him." Hershel noted. "That folks, is the Dixon version of a tearful reunion. By tomorrow Daryl will be back to his normal short-tempered, grumpy, all business normal self."


"I'm sorry about your father Duane, Morgan was a good man." Rick said.

"We caught the last part of you saying Atlanta was gone and that you were heading to Ft Benning." Duane explained. "Dad said you'd catch up to us there if God was willing. But when we got to Ft Benning, there was only a few people left. Not enough to be safe."

"I'm sorry for that. It was the only other place we could think of that might be safe when the CDC went." Rick said.

"You didn't know. But we didn't know that they came back without being bitten. We had barricaded ourselves in one of the buildings. We just piled the bodies in another room when they died. If we had opened the doors we would've been overrun. It was all we could think to do. Then they started coming back. That's how dad got bit. He got us out but we both knew it was only a matter of time. He made me promise." Duane's voice cracked.

Rick changed the subject. "How did you end up with Merle Dixon?"

"He showed up one day, I heard the car and knew it had to be someone alive. He had this axe killing walkers. I just started helping him." Duane shrugged. "He asked if anyone was still alive and I told him no. My dad used to call people like him peckerwoods when he didn't think I was listening. You know people that didn't like blacks?

Well Merle gives me this funny look then asks if I know how to drive. I told him no and he said it was about time I learned, and told me to get in the car. We left Benning and just started heading along the back roads with Merle just complaining and criticizing. But I was really driving within a couple of hours. When we would stop, Merle started teaching me how to hunt.

I asked him one night why he took me with him since I knew he didn't like black people. He said he knew someone that had gotten lost in the woods as a kid for over a week. Next to Merle, that person was the toughest SOB he knew. He said I reminded of that kid he knew. He said I was a tough little git and tough little gits could survive if they learned."

"That was a big compliment coming from Merle." Rick said. "You've met Daryl, with the condition the world is in, you could do a lot worse than being compared to Daryl Dixon."

"Daryl seems a lot quieter than Merle. Dad always said it was the quiet ones you had to watch out for, they were always the most dangerous."

"I won't lie, Daryl is dangerous. When it comes to the group he will do what has to be done to protect us all and I sometimes think killing walkers is like a hobby for him. Don't worry about Daryl being dangerous. Sometimes the best thing that can happen is having a dangerous person consider you a friend.

You should get some sleep. I doubt you've had much lately."