"Daryl! Where the fuck are you?" Merle screamed. He wasn't one to panic and he still had plenty of fight left in him but his little brother was supposed to be coming in from the side window '…not out back pulling on your dick!" he bellowed.
This part of town had been a virtual gold mine. Initially Merle wanted to press on to Atlanta a but the pickings here were far too good to pass up. Atlanta and the suckers there would wait; best to be fully stocked and ready.
Merle's machete lashed out left and right severing hands, arms, legs and heads wherever the big man went. He had it under control for now but if there were anymore in the house that arrived before his baby brother did I'm gonna be in a world of shit! he hurriedly thought to himself.
He put a bit of distance between himself and the remaining family of walkers. "Oh, I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Jones" Merle said gentle pointing to the 2 of the older looking Walkers on the other side of the couch. 'But I'm afraid I'm just not gonna be able to little Suzy back from the dance by 9." He brought the sharp blade down across the top of the head splitting the rotting skull like an overripe melon and sending brains and gore all over the living room "She said she has a splitting headache!" He laughed maniacally at the sight and assured The Joneses "I'll take real good care of her, though don't you worry none!"
He kicked the couch, Little Suzy and all, towards the 2 Walkers knocking one off their feet and pushing the other in a stumbling backwards spin. He fired the machete downward through the stomach of the female Walker and then made his way to Mr. Jones. "Grabbing the shambling, stinking, rotting man by the back of the pants and the scruff of the neck Merle hefted the walking corpse off its feet and drove it head first into the wall, the fireplace and the door frame "Lemme give you a tour of the place" Merle growled as he used anything in the living room to smash the Walker into.
"You're like a goddamn cartoon character" came a quiet gravely voice behind him. Merle whipped around ready to pounce on whatever new threat it may be. Daryl stood there near the woman's corpse casually retrieving his crossbow bolt from the Walker's head. Merle dropped his headless victim and shot across the room towards his little brother.
"You God damn little prick!" He shouted as veins bulged and face reddened. "I was fuckin' lunchmeat to these dead pricks! Where the fuck were you, taking a shit?" he stopped inches from Daryl and pressed his sweat-covered face straight into Daryl's. Foreheads pressing against each other like to big bucks neither willing to break eye contact off with the other. Daryl knew he was playing a dangerous game but he couldn't let Merle get suspicious. "I told you I was coming in the back!" Daryl returned quietly but forcefully while pushing his head back against his brother's. "4 other Walkers in the house I took care of. You gonna thank me for that?"
"Oh-ho! Merle pulled back his head and that bullshit smile he wore returned to his face. "You probably want a backrub or a hot bath as a token of my…appreciation. Well you just gonna have to wait, Baby Brother since it looks like I did most of the work in here. Now get to searching before somebody else gets their ass busted!" he huffed as he retrieved his machete from the dead woman's corpse and stomped off towards the kitchen.
Daryl casually flipped his brother off and stalked towards the back of the house where he had originally entered to finish looking for his list of things. Normally for Daryl it was canned foot, whiskey and cigarettes but this time it was different. He'd never turn down a gun, ammo or water but he was on a different mission this time. He began ransacking the mother and father's room of the house while tossing anything he found useful on the bed. He hit pay dirt in the closet and stuffed a small box into his duffle bag and proceeded to rummage through the remaining rooms. 20 minutes later he and Merle were setting at the kitchen table going through their find.
Merle had a few cans of food, a bottle of some sort of pills and 2 clear bottles full of a brown liquid. Merle smiled as he pointed at them with his head. "Have a drink, Baby Brother! Time to celebrate!" Merle was setting there with his boots pulled off trying on new socks and shoes he must have found somewhere in the house. "Ain't nothing' like a new pair of socks to make a man feel like brand new." Merle said as he wiggled his toes and grinned like a 3 year old. "Pour us both some while you're at it!"
Daryl got up and rummaged through the cabinets looking for some glasses and sat down when he found 2 that would work. He lit a cigarette and inhaled a deep draw while sliding down in the kitchen chair. "Mrs. Jones isn't gonna take too kindly to your bad table manners, Little Brother" Merle said in his best fake sympathetic voice. "She might not let you take Little Suzy out tonight!" Merle cackled and shook his head at his own joke while the best Daryl cook muster was a huff of air and smoke out of his nose. "We've been hitting the mother lode with these places here. Gonna be hard to leave it."
Daryl knew this conversation would eventually happen and he'd been secretly praying that he could keep his brother in whiskey and pills for a couple of weeks. Merle would be drunk and stoned while he looked for… What exactly AM I looking for? My knife, I want it back but… the girl occupied his thoughts more than he ever thought possible. Damn Dixon, you are acting like a 14 year old boy after his first taste of strange! What you think Merle will do when he finds out about her? Daryl looked across the table at his brother. He had a tumbler full of whiskey and was leafing through a car magazine he'd found. Merle wasn't one to take to his brother disobeying his wishes and he certainly wasn't the kind to take to the idea of adding a person to their little troupe. I guess we'll figure that out when we figure that out! and with that thought he hammered the last of his glass savoring the burn of the Tennessee whiskey and slammed the glass down with a "SHOOO! Damn that's good." he turned his glass around in his hands looking thoughtful for a moment before pouring himself and Merle another round.
"What's on our mind, Baby Brother?" Merle asked while peering over the top of the old magazine.
"Ah, just seem to be a shame to run off leaving a lot of good swag here without at least making ourselves a buried stash somewhere. We gotta beat it out of Atlanta it'd be nice to have a fall-back plan here waiting for us. Never know what that place is like now." He took a long sip, never looking at his brother and continued. "You said it yourself, 'Gotta know when to cut your losses and run' but we ain't got no losses just yet. I think you're right and there is a bigger prize her in town and we just gotta find it first."
Merle seemed pleased that his little brother was finally taking his advice. Better he takes it now instead of me having to beat him into taking it. Merle thought absently to himself and he shook his head agreeing with both his brother and himself. "Well now, Daryl" Merle said as he slide down in his own chair a bit, crossed his legs and make himself more comfortable. "Do tell me this grand plan of your." Merle took a long drink never once reacting the burning liquid pouring down his throat. "What you have in mind?"
Daryl had to sell his idea and he was hoping that by evoking Merle's own words that he'd have a better time in getting Merle to agree to stay for a few more days. He knew where the girl was and had actually spent the previous 2 nights tracking her movements through the darkened city while his drunken brother slept off the day's drunk. He'd have to make his move soon before more Walkers showed up. This place is peaceful but it won't take too much more of us being here before they start tracking us down and we best be gone by then. He was going to suggest splitting up, keeping Merle on one side of their camp while he explored the other…and he was going to try to get Merle himself to think it was his idea.