We drove in silence as the sun made its descent in the sky, inviting darkness to swallow up the Atlanta skyline. As we got closer to the city, more and more corpses became part of the passing scenery. According to Daryl, the quarry was north of Atlanta which meant we needed to go around the city since we were coming up from the south. Trying to avoid as many of the infected as possible, Daryl stuck to the back roads, avoiding the highways as they were most likely grid locked with abandoned cars.
We arrived at the quarry about an hour before sunset. The quarry was larger than I imagined, with an enormous reservoir at its base. The landscape consisted of rocky cliffs and tall mountainous walls that encapsulated the reservoir below. In all, the quarry was stunning and I found myself appreciating its natural beauty.
Daryl drove to the top of the mountain before parking in a large clearing filled with dirt and rocks of varying sizes. Tree stumps poked out from the ground sporadically but for the most part, it was clear and perfect for camping.
"Al'ight," Daryl said as he turned the engine off. "We got a lot to carry n' a lil' bit of time. We need to move fast," he said and opened the driver's door.
"Where we campin' anyways?" Merle asked, interrupting Daryl's exit from the vehicle.
"I know a spot in the woods here," Daryl answered. "It's pretty far inside though so we need to start movin' now. Y'all can unpack while I scout the area," he said getting out of the truck.
"Wait, why don't we just camp here?" I asked, looking around at the cleared ground space on the top of the mountain.
"Too open," Daryl replied shaking his head. "If we had a bigger group and more guns it'd be fine. But wit jus' the three of us, we'd be askin' for trouble."
I swallowed thickly and made my way out of the truck. "You think someone would rob us?" I asked worriedly.
Daryl grabbed his crossbow out of the bed of the truck before answering. "When tryin' to survive, people do all sorts of things they ain't never done before," he responded.
Great. Just freaking perfect. So in addition to fighting off walkers, we also had to worry about fighting off other groups of people. My hands began to get clammy as I worried about invaders. My mind wondered to Lyle's face and my heart beat sped up in terror. I didn't want to have to encounter any more men like him.
Noticing my sudden distress, Daryl placed his hand on my shoulder, effectively gaining my attention. He bowed his head so he was eye level with me before speaking. "Don't worry. Ya wit the Dixon brothers. You'll be fine," he added with a wink.
Immediately, my anxiety started to dissipate. I smiled, unable to contain it any longer. There was something about Daryl that instantly calmed me. I always felt safe in his presence.
Daryl returned my smile with one of his own and it made my stomach flutter in excitement. "Stay wit Merle and unpack. I'll be back soon," he directed and departed, disappearing into the thickness of trees.
"Would ya stop starin' at my brother's ass and come on!" Merle shouted from the back of the truck. "We ain't got all day."
I spun around with wide eyes. "I wasn't staring at his ass," I exclaimed…a bit too fast to be believable. I cleared my throat before continuing. "I was just watching him walk away," I defended in a slower, more controlled manner. I put on my best poker face and tried to play it cool.
Merle opened the truck's tailgate then stopped to look at me. He regarded me with scrutinizing eyes before he gave one short chuckle of disbelief. "Keep tellin' ya'self that," he smirked.
I exhaled in defeat. Damn, I was so busted.
"What happened today?" he asked suddenly interested.
My brain shouted to DENY DENY DENY. It seemed like sound advice so I took it.
"I don't know what you mean," I replied keeping my face neutral. The last thing I needed was for Merle to discover my feelings for his brother—feelings I was still trying to figure out for myself.
"Somethin' happened," Merle decided, nodding his head in affirmation. "Y'all seem to be makin' a lot of googly eyes at each other," he speculated and started rummaging around the bags in the back as I made my way over to him.
"You two bumpin' uglies now or what?" he questioned looking up at me with a grin. "You could tell ya ol' buddy Merle," he insisted trying to get me to confirm his suspicions.
"We're not having sex," I answered honestly. Of course that didn't mean I didn't want to…especially if he insisted on wearing those cutoff shirts and speaking all gravelly in his southern accent. A slight smile crept up on my face as I remembered him claiming me as his girl. I started to get a little too aroused by that thought. I cleared my throat and shook my head. "Nothing happened," I added quietly. I couldn't tell if I was trying to convince him or myself.
"Uh huh," Merle replied in a disbelieving tone. "Well c'mon. We got shit to do," he ordered and started unpacking the truck.
He handed me all the bags, one by one, until I made a huge pile on the ground. Then he rolled his motorcycle off the back of the truck. I noticed a Nazi SS insignia on his bike as he walked past me and parked it near the treeline. I rolled my eyes. How the hell did I end up with a racist redneck as a protector? I laughed at the irony of the whole thing. It was like a butcher with a pet pig. It was all so messed up. I briefly wondered if Merle was a racist by choice or upbringing. I shrugged. It didn't really make a difference in the end.
When Merle was finished parking his bike, he hid it by adding some shrubbery and leaves over the top of it so it blended in with the background. It was clever and nicely executed. I wouldn't have even known it was there had I not been looking at him hide it.
Merle made his way back over to me and sat down on a large boulder. "Scoot over," I demanded as I climbed up the large rock to join him.
Merle gave me a contemptuous glare before shifting to the right to make space for me. I sat down and bumped his shoulder, eliciting a small smile from him. We sat in silence as we both looked out over the quarry. Merle took out a cigarette and smoked as we watched the sun set, waiting for Daryl to return.
"This is the most romantic shit I've ever done wit a woman," Merle admitted with a slight chuckle. "Watchin' the sunset like som' pussy," he explained shaking his head.
I smiled. "I'm enjoying your company too, Merle," I jested in a teasing manner.
"Fuck off," he grunted with a grin. I laughed and bumped his shoulder again for good measure.
"Y'all ready?" Daryl asked from behind us. I turned around to look at him and noticed he had a slight scowl on his face.
"We best hurry. Still gotta make camp," he ordered in a tense tone and walked away toward the pile of bags.
"Yeah, nothin' happened today," Merle commented, shaking his head. I gave him a confused look but he didn't elaborate. Instead, he flicked his cigarette butt onto the ground and hopped down from the rock.
"Ya comin' or what?" he turned around to look at me.
I nodded and slid down the boulder. Merle gave me a funny look as he regarded me before he shook his head. "My brother and a city girl," he commented cryptically before walking away.
I had no idea what the hell that was suppose to mean. I decided to ignore the comment and I followed Merle as he joined Daryl by our bags.
We all grabbed as many bags as we could while still carrying our weapons. Thankfully, we were able to carry everything so we only needed to make one trip.
Daryl led the way through the dense woods until we came upon a small clearing within. It was no where as large as the clearing at the top of the mountain but it was more discrete and well hidden from potential enemies.
As soon as we arrived at the clearing, Daryl went back to the mountain top to hide the truck and our tracks while Merle and I made camp.
Merle grabbed a tattered bag that looked heavily used. It wasn't one of the bags we got from scavenging. Daryl must have got it from the cabin and added it to the truck with the rest of our bags when we packed up.
"What's in the bag?" I asked.
"A tent," Merle replied. "Get yours out too. I'll help ya put it together."
"I don't have a tent," I replied confused. "Why would I have a tent?" I questioned.
Merle stopped unloading his tent to look at me. "You didn't grab one at the store when we was stealin' stuff?" he asked with disbelief.
I shook my head "no".
"I told ya to get what ya might need later," he responded in a clipped tone.
"Yeah," I agreed with an attitude of my own. "I got clothes," I defended crossing my arms over my chest.
Merle looked at me with wide eyes before a big, deep, belly laugh erupted from within him. I narrowed my eyes and shot him an icy glare.
"Fuckin' city girls," Merle choked out, grabbing his side in laughter.
I stood there with a scowl on my face until his laughter finally subsided. He chuckled a few more times and wiped the tears that spilled over from his enjoyment.
"Since you ain't got no tent, why don't ya get Daryl's out and I'll help ya put it together when I'm done with mine," he said with mirth still twinkling in his eyes. "It's the dark green bag over there," he directed, pointing to one of the bags Daryl carried.
I went over and grabbed the bag before heading over to Merle. I watched as he assembled his tent with ease. It looked as if he'd done it a million times before. His tent was navy blue and gray in color and appeared rather small. Surprisingly, the tent didn't look as tattered as the duffle bag it was stored in. The tent looked used, but still in decent shape.
"Alright, let's do that one now," Merle announced looking at the dark green duffle bag in my hand.
He led me to the other side of the small clearing before he began to assemble Daryl's tent. It was dark green and brown and easily camouflaged into the woodsy environment. Daryl's tent was the same size as Merle's, designed for two adults. Ugh. It would be tight sleeping quarters and I doubted there would be much room inside to put our belongings.
I tried to hide the look of disdain as I came to the conclusion that camping was going to suck big time.
"Don' look so forlorn Princess. It's ya own fault," Merle chided once he finished assembling the tent.
"Put the food bags over there," he pointed to a spot between both of our tents. "I'll get a fire started," he announced and started looking for wood.
I organized the food bags into a pile when I remembered something. I went over to my backpack, reached inside and grabbed a pill bottle.
"I picked up your doxycycline before we left," I said loud enough for Merle to hear. He was out of the clearing, searching the nearby area for firewood. I walked over to Merle's tent and unzipped the opening to throw in his antibiotic when I noticed a large ziploc bag. It was the same bag I saw when Merle came out of the bar after the shoot out with Lyle and his men.
The bag contained several prescription bottles, and a large portion of what looked like small shards of blue glass. I went to grab the bag for a closer inspection when Merle suddenly yanked me back and grabbed the antibiotic bottle out of my hand. He quickly threw it in his tent before zipping it back up. He had a slightly wild look on his face before he rubbed his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. He put on a friendly façade before speaking.
"Best not mention that to Daryl," he suggested in light tone.
"Tell me you didn't steal that from Lyle" I whispered-yelled. I couldn't believe Merle. We almost died trying to save him from that lunatic.
"That prescription stuff was ours to begin wit. Lyle stole it from us!" Merle defended. "And that crystal in there is Heinsenberg's recipe. Top quality. Wasn't leavin' somethin' like that behind," Merle added in a hushed tone.
Just then, Daryl walked back into the clearing. Merle put his index finger over his lips as a reminder to keep my mouth shut about what I just discovered. I gave him a hard glare but eventually nodded my head. I didn't want to get in the middle of Merle's drug business anymore.
"Don't forget you need to take a dose of that doxycycline before you go to bed tonight," I instructed with an attitude before walking away from him.
Daryl gave me a concerned look as I passed him but I ignored him and went back over to the food bags. I searched through the various bags looking for potential contenders for dinner while I tried not to think about Merle and his poor decisions.
Of course, that didn't work at all. In fact, all I thought about was Merle and his poor decisions. What the hell was he thinking, stealing from Lyle? Maybe Lyle was dead and we were safe. Why was his crystal meth blue? Who the hell was Heinsenberg? But the biggest question I kept thinking about was how Daryl was going to react when he discovered the truth.
"Find anything for dinner?" Daryl asked crouching next to me.
I jolted harshly and screamed in surprise. "Sorry," I said with a forced small smile. "You startled me."
"Somethin' wrong?" Daryl asked looking at me.
I quickly averted my eyes. Damn, Daryl was good at reading me. Too good. I really needed to hide my emotions better. I kept my gaze down as I continued to look through the bags.
"I'm fine," I lied. I glanced at him briefly to gauge his reaction. He didn't look convinced. Damn. I quickly lowered my eyes again.
"Find anythin' for dinner?" he asked instead.
I almost sighed in gratitude. I was beyond thankful he didn't push me to divulge Merle's secret.
"Do you like chili?" I asked smiling, holding up two big cans of chili.
"Sounds good," he smiled back. "Merle? Ya got that fire started yet?" he shouted in Merle's direction.
"Yeah. Jus' got it goin'," Merle replied.
Daryl got up and walked over to a bag before he started digging around for something. Eventually he found a pot and pulled it out.
"Give me them cans," Daryl ordered with an outstretched hand. I passed him the canned chili and followed him to the makeshift fire pit Merle created.
Daryl put the items down before going to grab his clothes bag and my backpack.
"Here, sit on this for now," he instructed, passing me my backpack.
I sat down on it while he sat on his bag. It wasn't very comfortable, but it was better than sitting on the ground.
"What the fuck is this?" Merle asked suddenly. He was holding the rainbow and pineapple covered beach bag from Rite Aid that I packed his clothes in.
Daryl started laughing uncontrollably which caused Merle to look at me expectantly.
"Your welcome," I said with a smile. "And don't get use to it. I want it back."
Merle grumbled something under his breath and sat on the bag with an attitude. Eventually Daryl's laughter died down and we cooked the cans of chili in a pot over the fire. When it was ready, Daryl handed out the servings and we began to eat.
"It's not bad," I admitted, mildly surprised by that fact.
Merle ate a spoonful of chili before making a horrid face. He began searching his bowl thoroughly for something. "Ain't no meat in it," Merle accused.
"What kind of chili ain't got no meat in it?" Daryl asked appalled.
"Vegetarian chili," I answered picking up the can to show him.
"Aw hell brother," Merle said shaking his head. "We ain't never gonna survive wit her around. Next thing ya know, she'll be makin' us eat leaves n' shit," he added in a disgusted tone.
Daryl made a slightly repulsed face at the idea of not eating meat. "We'll go huntin' tomorrow. Maybe get some squirrels, stew 'em up," he mused out loud.
"Damn straight," Merle agreed.
I almost choked on the spoonful of chili in my mouth. "Did you say squirrel?" I questioned in horror.
"Yeah," Daryl nodded unaware of my disgust.
"Wait. So you're telling me, you eat squirrel?" I asked trying to clarify. Please say no. Please say no.
"Yeah," Daryl shrugged. "Tastes good too," he added as he ate another mouthful of chili.
I suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore. I grimaced as I put the bowl of chili down. Noticing my discomfort, Merle started laughing.
"City girls," Merle mumbled shaking his head.
Suddenly, a huge smile spread across his face and his eyes twinkled. Crap. It looked like Merle's humorous side was ready to come out and play. That wasn't good news for me.
"Hey lil' brother," Merle called getting Daryl's attention. "Wanna know what ya stray stole from the store?" he asked loudly.
I inwardly cringed. Here it comes…
"Fuckin' clothes!" he announced laughing his ass off.
Seeing the puzzled look on Daryl's face, Merle continued. "That's right brother. She ain't got nothin' but clothes in that bag!" Merle revealed with a shit-eating grin.
Daryl turned to look at me. Oh no, he was squinting. Dammit he was judging me again. My face reddened under his scrutiny.
"No one told me to get a tent," I pointed out, looking at the both of them. "How was I suppose to know I needed one? Besides, I thought we were going to be staying at the cabin," I added in defense.
Daryl looked contemplative for a moment before taking a deep breath. He appeared unhappy and I worried what he was going to say. "Fine," he muttered with a frown. "Me and Merle can share a tent then," he reasoned.
Wait, what? My gut twisted in fear. I was going to be sleeping alone in a tent in the woods during an apocalypse. Crap. I was so not prepared for this.
"Oh no brother," Merle said shaking his head. "I ain't sharin' no tent wit ya. I need my own space."
When Daryl gave him a frustrated look, Merle continued. "What? I ain't tell ya to pick her up off the side of the road. She's your stray, not mine. You two share," he declared crossing his arms over his chest.
Daryl looked uneasy, as if he wasn't sure how to proceed.
"I don't mind," I interrupted, gaining Daryl's attention. "Honestly. I've never slept outdoors and I'm still freaked out about the walkers," I said fidgeting with my hands. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves before I continued. "I don't want to sleep in a tent by myself," I confessed looking at Daryl.
"See brother. Everythin's fine. Y'all can shack up and I get my tent to myself," Merle explained with a smile.
Daryl narrowed his eyes into his signature look of contemplation as he remained quiet. He still seemed uneasy with the situation but he eventually nodded his head in agreement.
I let out a huge breath as my body released tension. Crisis averted. I looked over the fire at Merle to see him winking suggestively and giving me kissy lips. I quickly turned my gaze to Daryl in fear but thankfully he was eating while looking at the fire. He had frown lines across his forehead as he looked deep in thought. I returned my gaze to Merle to see him giving me a shit-eating grin. Ugh. Could he be any more obvious? He still believed Daryl and I hooked up. I gave him a hard glare and discretely flipped him off. He just continued grinning but stopped tormenting me.
Merle changed his sitting position then and pulled out a gun that was tucked in the back of his pants. As far as I knew, Merle didn't have any guns when Lyle and his men took him.
"Where did you get that gun?" I asked, nodding at the gun.
Merle chuckled, turning the pistol over in his hand. "I boosted it off Colton when I bumped him," he revealed, smiling at me. "Stupid bastard was too dumb to notice," he shrugged.
"So you're the one who started shooting when the lights went off?" I asked.
"Not the first shot," Merle admitted shaking his head. "That was all my baby brother over there," he said tilting his head in Daryl's direction. "I just followed his lead," he added with a small smile.
Daryl cleared his throat before speaking. "After ya whispered in my ear, I was jus' waitin' for the right moment to take my shot. When the lights went off, I took my chance," he said, eyes focused on the fire in front of him. "Think I hit him too. Hard to tell in the dark though," he admitted in a quiet tone.
"You did," I confirmed remembering the violent jolt of Lyle's body as the bullet hit him.
It was silent for a moment as I thought about what happened back at the bar. Something didn't make sense. "Who took out the other three men?" I asked looking at Daryl. "I still heard shots being fired when you grabbed me."
Daryl nodded. "Merle shot em'," he revealed with a slight upturn of his lips.
I turned my head in Merle's direction and watched as a huge grin took over his face. "What?" he asked. "Didn't know ya buddy Merle was so talented?" he questioned teasingly. "I got other talents ya might be interested in too," he added flicking his tongue in a sexual manner.
Leave it to Merle to give me the most disturbing visualization of oral sex ever.
"Seriously, Merle?" I questioned rolling my eyes. "Not interested," I deadpanned.
He shrugged before responding. "Your loss."
I was quiet for a moment as I thought about the details of the event."How could you possibly know where to shoot? It was dark," I noted. Suddenly, a mortifying thought occurred to me. "You could've killed me!" I shouted in panic.
"Merle wasn't gonna shoot ya. Calm down," Daryl interrupted.
"Oh yeah. How the hell do you know that?" I rebutted in a clipped tone.
"He was trained to shoot in bad conditions. Merle was a marine. He was the best shot in his whole damn rifle platoon," Daryl explained.
I turned to regard Merle. Maybe it was true. He certainly still kept a typical "former military" haircut. I almost let it go before I caught on to a small detail.
"Wait a minute. Daryl said 'was'. You were a marine. What happened?" I questioned looking at Merle.
He looked uncomfortable for a fraction of a second before a loud laugh erupted from him.
"Got in a fight with som' non-com bastard," Merle said with a Cheshire grin.
"Non-com?" I asked still puzzled.
"Means non-commissioned officer," Daryl clarified.
"I told him to bring it on if he was man enough, or take it up the chain if he was a pussy," Merle explained with a slight chuckle. "Then that idiot took a swing," Merle continued, shaking his head in disbelief. "So I punched out his front teeth," he admitted laughing hysterically. "All five of 'em" he added holding up his hand.
"Pow! Pow!" he motioned with his fists for added emphasis. "Just like that!"
My eyes widened in shock. Merle must have always been unhinged, a little too wild for normal society. He punched out a officer's teeth without thinking of the consequences. That couldn't have gone over well. "What happened to you?" I questioned Merle.
"16 months in the stockade," Daryl answered in a morose tone.
"Yep, that's what them teeth cost me," Merle confirmed as his laughter settled down.
His eyes took on a far away look like he was reliving a memory. "That was-," he began. "That was hard time," he finished quietly.
Suddenly, his face transformed from retrospective to unrestrained mirth. "But by God, it was worth every minute of it!" he declared and resumed laughing again.
I looked to Daryl to see his reaction but his face was hardened and his emotions were hidden behind his squinty glare. I got the feeling he didn't share his brother's amusement with the memory.
Eventually Merle's laughter died off and darkness took over the sky. We cleaned up our dinner and continued sitting around the fire, mostly in silence as all of us seemed to be consumed by our own thoughts. It was a comfortable silence and it was nice to be able to finally relax after such a rough day.
As the fire began to die down, my eyelids became heavy with the need for sleep. Merle must have felt the same way because he spoke first.
"Well shit. I'm gonna knock out," Merle said getting up. "Jus' know if I start hearin' moans and grunts in the middle of the night, I'm comin' to watch the show," Merle said smiling suggestively and waggling his eyebrows.
"Shut the hell up Merle," Daryl shouted, throwing a can of beans at him.
Merle easily dodged the item and smiled in defiance."Night you two. Don' do anything without me," he added with a wink and walked over to his tent, disappearing inside.
It was quiet for a while as Daryl and I both sat there unsure how to proceed. Merle had effectively created an awkward atmosphere and neither of us knew how to dispel it.
"Ready ta sleep?" Daryl finally asked as he got up. He turned to look down at me and I was thankful for the darkness of night as I'm sure my face was beet red.
"Yeah," I answered quietly.
Daryl stood there watching me for a while before I realized he was waiting for me to go inside the tent.
"Oh right," I mumbled quickly getting up and heading toward the tent. I could so face palm myself right now. Way to be awkward Natasha.
I unzipped the tent and went in. Daryl put the last of the fire out before following me inside the tent. Once the both of us were inside, it became obvious how little space we had. Things were tight to say the least.
Daryl cleared his throat before speaking. "Ya want the left or right side?" he asked. His face looked unsure and his posture looked rigid and uncomfortable. I was glad I wasn't the only awkward one.
"It doesn't matter. You can choose," I offered.
He nodded before taking the left side. I went over to the right side and sat down when I realized I had no sleeping bag.
As if reading my mind, Daryl tossed me his dark green sleeping bag. It was crocodile green like his comforter. I was starting to think this might be his favorite color.
"Thanks but I feel bad taking your only blanket," I said handing him the rolled up sleeping bag back.
Daryl shook his head. "I'll be fine," he replied, refusing the blanket.
"Why don' y'all jus' share the damn blanket already?" Merle shouted from across the small clearing.
Damn he could hear us. This night just kept getting more awkward.
"Shut up Merle!" Daryl shouted back at Merle.
Daryl turned his attention back to me. "I'm fine. It's too hot tonight anyway," he offered.
He gave me a hard stare which told me he was done arguing about it. I nodded and took the sleeping bag, laying it on the tent's floor before snuggling in. Once again, the smell of whiskey, grease and oil clung to my nose and I found it oddly comforting.
"Good night," I told Daryl with a small smile.
He nodded back at me as he took a duffle bag and tucked it behind him to lean on in a half sitting, half lying down position.
"Good night love birds," I heard Merle say in a sing-song voice.
I didn't respond and neither did Daryl. I thought about breaking Merle's nose again as I drifted off to sleep.
Author's Note: Merle's conversation about his military career is in the beginning of episode 3 "Tell it to the Frogs" when he's on the roof talking to himself. I liked it so much, I decided to add it. Also, did anyone catch my Breaking Bad reference?