This is a very short chapter, as Merle is by his lonesome

I don't own TWD

Please enjoy!

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Gone: Merle

"Those fucks. Fuckin' left my ass to die on that damned roof." Merle muttered. "I'm gonna kill that damn cop n' that fuckin' black son of a bitch. I'm determined to find 'em and kill 'em for this fuckery. Maybe I'll saw off their fuckin' hands first…" He spat. "I hope Daryl raised hell…"

Merle was wandering the empty streets of the city, grabbing supplies and weapons where he could. Though his profanity-laced mutterings of revenge against Rick and T-Dog were consistently streaming out of his mouth, his thoughts were mainly on getting back to Daryl and Thaliana. Daryl was all Merle had left from the world he knew, the only family he really cared about. Then Thaliana came into the picture. He wanted to hate her, he wanted to keep hating her… but those supply runs sparked something, all those hunting treks strengthened it. That moment in the woods, when he and Daryl saw her scars solidified it and made it unbreakable. He'd never show it, but seeing her go through the seizures terrified him.

He stopped in his tracks and started laughing. He cared about someone else other than himself and his brother… a black woman. Thaliana is sharper than any person he'd ever met, as deadly and dangerous as him and Daryl, a skilled killer. Spoke rarely, but truthfully – uncaring of what people thought of her. Underneath all that, though, was someone fragile and damaged. She was just like them and yet so radically different… and he liked that bout her. He cared about this young black woman like… family. Merle's barks of laughter turned into howls. Family…. This girl was family to him.

"Shit, the world really has come to a fuckin' end." He chortled "Fuck me."

By the time he finished packing up a car, he noticed that it was dark. He didn't care to stay in the city, though. It was too big and who knows how many walkers were still traipsing around. The last thing he wanted was to take on a herd. So he got in the car and drove off to find the camp. It seemed like every way he knew to get there was blocked off by cars or walker herds. It got to a point where he had to just take shelter in an abandoned house. He was thankful it still had functioning utilities. He made himself a hot meal, took a warm shower and slept the best sleep he had since the world went to shit.

The next morning, he set out to find an unobstructed road that led to the camp. It took him a whole day of driving and back tracking, stopping for more supplies and pee breaks, but he finally managed to find a herdless, unblocked road that he knew led straight to the camp. He was going make T-Dog and Rick pay for leaving him on that roof, he was going to take his family and they were going to leave.

"We know how t' survive." Merle uttered "We goin' to survive…. fuck the rest of 'em."

As he turned the corner of the feeder road overlooking the camp, he saw that the place was empty. He punched the roof of the car and cursed incessantly. Everything, everyone in that camp was gone. He was pissed that Daryl didn't at least stay and hold up for him. Once Merle made it to the old campsite, he saw why. The smell of burnt corpses lingered. There was dried blood and chunks everywhere. He went over to another flat space and saw row after row of holes that were dug up; a lot of them were filled back in. The group had gotten significantly smaller and it wasn't safe there anymore.

Upon coming back to the main area, he looked to his left. He smirked to himself when he saw that Thaliana's Maybach was gone; it let him know she was up and about. He also noticed a pill bottle on the ground. The addict in him immediately thought to open it and see if there were any pills left to take. He picked up the bottle and that thought left his head quicker than it flew in when turned it to the label… "Zarontin"… it was Thaliana's medication. He looked inside and saw that the bottle was about a third of the way from empty. Still, he shoved the bottle in his pocket. Even though she had a couple of small boxes filled with the stuff, Thaliana needed every one of those pills.

Merle knew that it was going to be hard to find them, since the main roads were asphalt. He was going to find them, though. Come hell or high water, no matter what he had to do, he was going to get back to his family.

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What do you guys think of the story so far? The bond amongst Thaliana, Merle, and Daryl?

I'm thinking of going back and forth between the main group and Merle until I get to Woodbury.

Inching closer to 400 views (I'm just jazzed that people are reading my story this much) – Thank you so much, readers –new and returning!