I figured since I was on a roll today that I'd just update this again too. Hope you guys are havign a good week. Thanks for reading!

Chapter Nine

Merle's mood had soured completely. Probably because he'd ran into the asshole Blake. God he hated that mother fucker. He needed to figure out the lay of the land. He needed to worm his way into the good graces of some of the men here. He needed to learn more about how things moved along in this place.

If he was more patient he could always just wait until Blake handed him the keys to the kingdom and then just blow the mother fuckers brains out as soon as he had a gun in his hand. But shit wasn't going to be that easy. Things usually never were. The men here respected Blake and they wouldn't just let someone kill the bastard without retaliating. If he did that then Maddy would be in a heap of trouble.

He followed her into one of the other buildings, leaning against the wall when she stopped and knocked lightly at a door. She still looked pissed off but she'd get over it. Maybe he shouldn't have kissed her but before it ended, she had kissed him back. He was sure of that.

Her stern look dissolved when the door opened up and a dark haired girl poked her head out. "Hi, Tara."

"Hey! Come on in."

Maddy stepped into the room and Merle followed. It was bigger than their room. This one looked like an actual apartment.

"You must be Merle," the girl, whom he assumed was Tara, said. She held out her hand. "I'm Tara."

He shook her hand still glancing around the place. "I figured."

Maddy elbowed him and smiled at Tara. "So, where is your guest?"

Tara pointed to a door across the room. "Getting dressed. She was in the shower. She still hasn't said anything and she still has nightmares." Tara shook her head. "I'm not sure what to do with her, really. I'm not getting anywhere with her."

"I'm sorry," Maddy said, glancing at the closed door worriedly.

Merle sat down on the couch. This was some boring ass shit. He should have went exploring on his own. Now he was stuck here listening to these two make small talk over some dumb mute kid that he didn't give a damn about.

He tuned them out and picked at a callous on his hand but when the door finally opened and a little girl stepped out he froze. He fucking knew this kid! The girl looked miserable. There were fading bruises on her skinny arms and her wide eyes looked sad and desolate. Tara hadn't noticed him looking at the girl and he was glad. He didn't know Tara and he didn't need her reporting back to Blake that he knew this kid. But he knew her.

Her dad was Ed. He'd talked to him a few times. He was a woman beater and his baby brother hadn't liked him much. Her mama seemed to try to protect the kid from the man for the most part. If this was the same kid that Maddy had found out there then where the hell was the rest of the group? Was his brother...

The girl, Sophia was her name, he remembered, looked up at him and he instantly looked away. He didn't need her acting any different in front of this Tara person. No one here could know he knew her. He wasn't even sure why. He just knew. Sometimes his gut would tell him something and he would always listen. But he needed to get the kid alone. He needed to figure out what happened to the rest of them.

"I'll be right back. I'll get you two some coffee," Tara said suddenly.

As soon as Tara left the room Merle looked at the little girl again. She was staring at him, her eyes wide. Merle glanced towards the doorway where Tara had disappeared through. He leaned forward. "You're Sophia," he said, keeping his voice low.

The little girl glanced in the same direction Merle had and then her eyes flicked over to Maddy before nodding.

Maddy gasped and then stood up. She was perceptive enough to know that there was something going on here and Merle didn't want her friend to know about it. She held up her finger and slipped from the room, off to talk to the other woman. Merle heard her ask Tara about letting them take Sophia down the street for some lunch.

"You remember me?" He asked, keeping his voice barely above a whisper, his eyes boring into the girls.

She nodded again.

"Your ass ain't mute or dumb at all. You need to tell me what the hell happened to the group."

She glanced towards the doorway again and then looked at him. "Can you get me out of here?"

He frowned and motioned towards the doorway. "That lady in there givin' you a hard way to go?"

The girl shook her head quickly and then seemed to shut down. Merle looked up and saw Maddy and Tara coming back. Maddy smiled. "You two feel like going on a walk?" She asked, her expression pleasant despite the fact that there was something going on. Something big.

Merle stood up, hoping he looked just as calm. "Yeah. I've been shut up inside for too damn long."

Once they were out on the street Maddy kept that passive look on her face but her voice carried a degree of anxiety. "What is going on?"

Merle didn't even look at her as he walked. "I know her. She was with that group. Was there anybody with her when you found her?"

Maddy shook her head. "No, no one. She came stumbling out of the woods when Martinez and I were going through some cars on the highway. She was alone."

"Fuck," he hissed under his breath.

"She can't tell you anything, Merle and I won't stand around and let you bully her. She's just a little a girl."

Merle snorted and led them back to their room instead of the building where they could get their food. The girl was keeping quiet and he was glad. If anyone saw her talking to them then who knew what the fuck would happen to her. It was better for everyone to think she was a little dumb ass that couldn't talk.

Once the door was closed he sat down on the edge of the bed, gripped the girl by her shoulders and met her eyes. "Now, spill," he said, his voice low.

"Merle, I already told you that I wasn't-"

"It's alright," Sophia said, glancing up at her. Maddy's mouth dropped. When the girl met his eyes she looked scared but she took a deep breath and started talking again. "We had to stop because of Dale's RV. It broke down again. Walkers came, tons of them, and we all had to hide under the cars so they wouldn't eat us. I thought they were gone so I crawled out but two of them came after me and I ran. I ran to the woods to get away."

"What about my brother? Was he with the group?" Merle asked, dropping his hands from her shoulders now that he knew he didn't have to threaten any information out of her.

Sophia nodded. "He was. I don't know what happened once I was in the woods though. I don't know if any of them are alive. Not Daryl or my mom or..."

"Why the hell have you been actin' like a dumb mute?" He asked, interrupting her before she could start crying or some dumb shit.

"Merle, stop saying it like that!" Maddy admonished, crossing her arms. "People that can't talk aren't dumb. You are for saying that."

He ignored her.

Sophia pushed her hair behind her ears and glanced at Maddy. "At first I was too scared to say anything because I didn't know if Maddy or Martinez were bad people or not. Then I just didn't want to say anything because I wanted Mr. Blake to leave me alone."

Merle and Maddy shared a look. "What do you mean, leave you alone?"

Sophia shrugged and sat down on the couch across from him. "He comes by and makes me go on walks with him sometimes. He took me to his apartment because he wanted me to meet his daughter."

Merle scowled. "He ain't got a daughter."

Sophia nodded. "You're right. She's gone but he doesn't think she's gonna stay gone. He tells me that he's gonna figure out a way to make her better and then I'll have someone to play with."

Maddy showed a lot more patience than Merle. "Honey, what do you mean, gone?"

Sophia looked up, her eyes wide. "She's a walker. He keeps her locked up inside the wall."

Maddy covered her mouth with her hand and Merle shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Tara is nice and all but she likes Mr. Blake. I didn't want her to know I could talk. I'm afraid he's gonna throw me in there with Penny."

"Holy fuck. He's a regular goddamn psychopath," Merle muttered, meeting Maddy's troubled eyes.

Maddy looked down at Sophia, her eyes softening. "I'm going to ask if you can stay with us, okay? You won't have to worry about keeping so quiet."

"What?" Merle frowned. "We got one goddamn room!"

She looked at him, hands on his hips. "Are you serious? We aren't letting her go back to Tara's. I'll go talk to Blake my damn self. Stop being so selfish!"

"I'm not givin' up the damn bed," he grumbled, leaning back on his elbows and studying the woman.

"You're a real piece of work, you know that? Haven't you dug yourself in a deep enough hole today? Quit while you're ahead, Merle, or I'll take the girl and get my own damn room."

He scoffed. "Empty threats. You need me."

Sophia eyed them both before finally settling her gaze on him. "Mr. Dixon, I didn't know you were married."

He shook his head. "Yeah, well, I won't be for long if this one don't learn her damn place."

"Well," the girl asked, her wide eyes meeting his, "Are we going to go find your brother and my mom?"

Merle chewed his lip for a moment, thinking. "You know how to shoot a gun?"

"Merle," Maddy growled, a clear warning in her voice.

"I ain't takin' some goddamn kid out there that I'd have to watch out for. It's bad enough I have to drag you around with me," he snapped.

Her eyes grew cold and then she grabbed Sophia's hand. "Let's go find something for lunch, Sophia. Merle's a big boy. He can fend for himself or he can starve. Hopefully he starves."

He glared at her and then the door slammed shut.