Brotherly Love

Merle had arrived at De Novo two days ago to find that his brother Daryl and his live-in Carol somebody or other had left the settlement to escort two strangers back to their home up in the mountains. Merle had spent the last two days roaming around De Novo sometimes with that pain in the ass Rick Grimes and sometimes with the live-in's daughter Sophia. He found Sophia better company but he and Rick had settled their differences without bloodshed.

Merle had been contemplating cutting his own hand off on that rooftop after ranting to God that he wasn't going to beg. His shouting had been heard by a scavengers who managed to come upstairs and cut Merle loose. His rescuers had dragged his dehydrated body back to their settlement outside of Atlanta. Their refuge had previously housed a research and development complex for a major military supplier. There was a strong fence about the building and a dependable source for water. One of the scavengers had been a security officer there before the event.

The core of this new group had been members of the New Life with Christ Community Church. Their faith demanded that they rescue Merle. He was severely dehydrated and he had an unexplained head wound that less him concussed for weeks. The New Lifers had tended to him as if he were a baby because Merle was slow to regain his strength and it was at least two weeks before he was able to go back to the quarry to find Daryl. He could see evidence that the camp had been attacked and later abandoned.

Merle went back to the New Lifers. He had been clean and sober for a month and he owed it to them. They were good people in an increasingly bad world and as much as their reliance on the teachings of their faith annoyed him he stayed. Most of them were clueless in how to survive in this new world and he didn't want to be alone. He ignored their relentless assault on his "lost" status and by and large they ignored his being "Merle". It was a working relationship but he was relieved when their group was rescued by the army.

He and the New Lifers were taken to a resettlement camp ran by Dr. Rahmael Ferrell. Merle's first interview with Dr. Rahmael Ferrell had not gone terribly well. Dr. Ferrell's dark bottomless eyes made Merle nervous. Merle hated the way Dr. Ferrell would listen to some of his bullshit and then say, "Start over and tell the truth." In the end, Merle confessed to being a drug dealing druggie who had never done anything good in his whole life. Why bother with a washed up piece of shit like him? They'd send him out to make his own way. That's the way it had always been.

Dr. Ferrell continued to meet with Merle every day and every day Merle would start the interview with bravado and end with truth. Merle hated it. He felt like a fucking pussy crying around about his dead mother and his vicious father. They were dead and gone; they couldn't hurt him anymore.

Merle had went full Merle on the fifth meeting. He had a meltdown and told Dr. Ferrell that he wasn't going through this shit anymore. He could take care of his own damn self and he was leaving the camp. He should have left a week ago.

Dr. Ferrell had said, "Be still, Merle".

Dr. Ferrell had always let him go on spewing his pent up rage until he was through and Merle was surprised enough to shut up.

"You aren't ready to go and you don't want to go or you would have taken off a week ago. I know where your brother is and I am not going to tell you until I know that you are ready." Dr. Ferrell sat back in his chair still keeping eye contact with Merle.

"You know where Daryl is and you didn't tell me. Fuck you. You tell me now or I'm going to kick your skinny Black ass." Merle was shaking. Daryl was alive and Dr. Ferrell hadn't told him and that made him furious.

"I am not going to tell you now. Sit down. We're just getting started. I will tell you when you're ready. He is alive and doing well from all reports. So are you going to work with me or continue to fight against me?" As always Dr. Ferrell spoke gently but there was no fear in the way he looked at him.

Merle had managed to bully and intimidate men much younger and bigger than this old geezer, but Dr. Ferrell wasn't afraid of him. "When will you tell me?" Maybe he could sneak in here and find the information on the resettlement in that file cabinet.

"I will tell you when you are ready. You are going to stay here with me when your group moves on. You can be very useful here and we can continue to have our daily chats. Don't bother to look in the file cabinet. It's not there." Dr. Ferrell smiled at him, "Yesterday you were telling me about your time in the army. So why don't we start from there."

Merle sat down. Daryl was alive and eventually Dr. Ferrell would tire of listening to his whining recollections about life at Chez Dixon. Merle was closer to fifty than he liked to admit. He was too old and too set in his twisted ways to think that there was a happy ending for him.

Dr. Rahmiel had kept him there for three months. Merle worked with the soldiers in rescuing other survivors and he couldn't quite believe that in this new world he was one of the good guys. He was bringing back men, women, and children to a safe place where there was food and strong walls. The kids thought he was hot shit and followed him around the camp like he was a damn hero. He growled at them at first but eventually he amused himself by telling them wild stories of his supposed adventures. Merle figured that they knew he was lying through his teeth but maybe they needed to believe that he was strong enough to protect them.

He had been with Dr. Ferrell for over two months when Dr. Ferrell began to tell him about Daryl. His little brother was in a North Carolina settlement. There were survivors from the quarry along with people from many different places. Every day Dr. Ferrell would tell him some tidbit about Daryl and his time at the camp.

Then several days ago Dr. Ferrell told him that Daryl was here and that there was an army convoy going in that direction and they could take him with them. The convoy was going to spend the night at De Novo.

Merle hugged Dr. Ferrell goodbye before he left the camp, "You take care of yourself, you old asshole."

Dr. Ferrell hugged him back, "Merle, I will miss you. You are a good man. Now listen to your better angels and tell the others to go fuck themselves."

Merle started laughing at the old man's profanity as he climbed into the truck. He must have laughed until he cried because there was no other reason why tears were streaking down his cheeks as the convoy cleared the gates.

The trip to De Novo had been bumpy. The herds were clumping up in Georgia and the convoy had been fired upon in South Carolina by ambushers who soon disappeared when the soldiers fired back. North Carolina had blocked roads and Merle was on edge by the time the trucks moved up the steep hill toward the camp.

Daryl wasn't there and Major Nelson had sent him to Rick Grimes. The man who had handcuffed him to the rooftop and left him to die. Rick insisted that they had been back the next day but that he was gone by them. Merle decided to let him live because it was his first day at De Novo and he should try to make a good impression.

Rick took him to his house for dinner. Rick mentioned that he was with Andrea. Andrea's sister Amy had been bitten at the quarry during a walker attack. Merle remembered Andrea as a blond hottie and her little sister as a nice kid.

Andrea greeted him more warmly than he deserved. She was the one to tell him that Daryl was living in the house next door with Carol and Sophia. The concept that Daryl was that connected to someone other than himself staggered Merle. Daryl had always had women sniffing around him and once in a while he sniffed back. He had never known Daryl to go back for seconds. The boy could be ass deep in pussy but he never bothered to give them a line of bullshit. He was just there to get laid and he had slacked off even at that the last few years.

Merle couldn't remember which one of the women was Carol, but he did remember Sophia at the quarry. She had an absolute asshole for a dad and a dreary mother. Apparently the asshole had bit the dust at the quarry and dreary mom had survived. The idea of dreary mom keeping Daryl at her side with because she was putting out seemed unlikely.

He did like Sophia however. She seemed to find him entertaining and snickered at his rude comments. She was a voracious reader like him and had taken him to the library on his first day there. She liked fantasy and science fiction and he liked biographies and military history. They might be divided by the Dewey Decimal classifications but they were bonded by a mutual love of reading.

At sunset Sophia took him to the watchtower to watch the flag come down. They had sat on the deck and watched the sun go down and the stars come out. Sophia talked about coming here with dreary mom Carol and Daryl to look for constellations. The girl adored Daryl. Every word and nuance dripped trust and affection for his backward brother and her mother. The kid was missing them and she chatted his ass off about good ole mom and Daryl D.

Sophia was staying with the Grimes family but they gave him the key to Daryl's house. That first night he prowled through the house. Daryl's bedroom was on the first floor and he seemed to be sleeping alone down here while Carol and Sophia slept upstairs.

Sophia had laughed about her mom and Daryl working on the kitchen. Her mother was quite the do it yourselfer and Daryl had helped. Daryl had dropped some colorful language during renovation. The kitchen looked nice. It had a friendly warm vibe to it. Nothing fancy, but it was comfortable. There were plants that Carol must use in cooking and some that were just there to be pretty.

Sophia's bedroom had that rainbow mobile that Daryl had brought back from a run and books everywhere. Sophia had a laptop and he rifled through her photographs. Dreary mom was a lot prettier than he remembered. Daryl looking healthy and almost smiling in a few of the photos. One was taken up in the watchtower by someone else. Sophia in the middle and Carol and Daryl on either side. Looking like a family.

Carol's bedroom had her clothes. She and Daryl weren't sharing a bedroom, but he would bet his balls that they were doing the nasty. He was happy that Daryl was getting some but where did that leave him?

Merle slept that night in Daryl's room. He had started on the couch but it was just too small. Rick woke him up early the next morning to go on a run with him. Rick had dropped some hints that the snake in this little Eden was a man named Phillip Blake.

The little Chinaman was in charge. Glenn Rhee who apparently was humping a hot chick named Maggie. Glenn in charge was a stretch but the trip went well. Glenn had a solid plan and the run crew was well trained. Rick had told him that Daryl had been in charge of runs since they got there.

Philip Blake had slithered up next to him in the truck and started a conversation, "Hello, my name is Phillip Blake and I am a big fan of your brother. Daryl has done an excellent job. De Novo is prepared for the winter because of him." Phillip extended his hand and Merle shook it politely.

Merle felt a sliver of fear go up his back when he touched Phillip's hand. He had dealt with some cold blooded fuckers in his past, but there was something so coldly malicious about the way that Phillip praised Daryl that told him that Phillip wanted his brother dead.

Glenn had been on the rooftop that day. Merle decided to grow a pair and apologize to him before they finished the run. He and Glenn had cleared out a small electronic store while part of the team stood guard and the others were loading supplies from an already looted supermarket. Together he and Glenn picked up some heavy boxes and shoved them in the smaller truck. Glenn was wiry strong and he didn't hesitate to do his share.

"I was out of control that day in Atlanta. I put everyone in danger by the way I acted. I'm sorry for being such a total fuckup." Merle hated having to apologize, but making amends was part of the program.

Glenn looked at him skeptically, but Merle held his hand out. Glenn shrugged his shoulders and shoot his hand, "Merle, welcome to De Novo. It means "new start". You get one too."

Merle said, "I want to pick up a good digital camera for Sophia. Are we allowed to do that on runs?"

"There are some good ones in the back room. I'll show you and you better get a couple of solar chargers, extra batteries, and some sd cards." Glenn led the way to the storeroom in the back and picked out everything Sophia would need.

He rode back with Glenn and Rick. "Phillip hates Daryl and I don't think you two are on his short list to be his bff either. He's gonna make a move soon. The convoy took some of the soldiers that were here with them. Who is on your side?" He might be a damn pussy who has to apologize but he was gonna tell the truth as he saw it.

"He has Martinez and Shumpert who were with him when the soldiers picked them up on the road here. He has Alex, Gareth, and Mary. I think they know what he is up to, but don't care. Phillip has been poisoning the well for months. Telling the others that we keep all the good stuff on runs and that we get special favors from the army. He has the ear of some of the soldiers that want to desert and stay here." Rick looked out the window. "Phillip takes more than his share on runs but he gives everything to his followers. The only ones I really trust now are the people that came in with us from the quarry. Morgan and Ginny and Hershel's people."

Glenn took it up, "Phillip is smart. He has Mary to talk to the women. Alex works on the farming crew. Gareth works in the storehouse. Morgan thinks he is stealing but he hasn't caught him yet. There is enough to go around, but they are doing a whisper campaign to convince the others that we can't make it through the winter."

Rick muttered, "It's worse than that." He proceeded to tell Glenn and Merle about the overrun camp outside Savannah and how Jesse and Michonne had named Philip, Martinez, and Shumpert as the men who had used an army truck to break down the gate that allowed a herd to kill the people inside.

Merle wanted a big glass of something alcoholic. Dealing with real life was a bitch. "Phillip won't just banish you. They might tell the others that they'll throw you out but they'll kill you outside the walls. Phillip doesn't want everyone to know what he is. He wants to rule this place."

Glenn nodded, "We can't throw them out because they'll come back and kill us in our sleep."

Merle had to hand it to the kid. He had a grasp of reality that Officer Friendly didn't, "Rick, there isn't any law any more. You either protect Blondie and your kid or you don't. I imagine Phillip would fancy a woman like Andrea."

Rick stared out of the window some more. Fucker didn't like to deal with reality either. "You're right, but we need Daryl and we need you, Merle."

The thought of Rick Grimes admitting that he needed him made Merle want to tell him to fuck off and that he was just here for Daryl. Dr. Ferrell had told him to tell his lesser angels to fuck off. "Daryl seems to care about you assholes so we better start posting guards at night. Better get Morgan and the others in on the low down."

Rick must have decided that he was his asshole buddy after that conversation so Merle had to spend way too much time hanging out with Rick after that. Fucker.

Sophia and her little asshole buddy Carl decided that they wanted to stay with him that night. Merle only let them because he wanted to keep an eye on Sophia. Something happened Rick would protect his kid and Andrea was too busy puking her guts up to do much else. Probably knocked up. Daryl loved this kid and maybe he did too.

He put up with their nonsense as long as he could stand it and then told them to get "The fuck upstairs and leave him alone." The two of them just grinned and went to bed upstairs. Merle turned the lights off and waited through the night. Nothing was going to happen to little Missy or that little shit Carl on his watch.

Merle had woken them up early and walked them to Andrea's who was looking really green this morning. He gave her his most shit eating grin, "Hope it was worth it."

Andrea wiped her face with a wet cloth, "Shut the fuck up, Merle."

He then went back and slept until he heard a truck pull up in the driveway. Daryl was driving and Carol hopped out to hug Sophia. Daryl had come around the truck waiting for Sophia to hug him.

The boy looked good. Clean shaven and in reasonably clean clothes. Merle stepped out on the porch and Daryl saw him and ran toward him and hugged him as hard as Sophia had hugged her mother.

Carol looked stunned, but she managed a smile in his direction. She moved Sophia toward the house and the entire Dixon family was under one roof.

Daryl moved toward his room, "Come on, Merle. We haven't much time. We've got to meet Jesse." Merle followed him and found Daryl grabbing clean clothes and some more bolts. He handed Merle a rifle and pistol and some ammo. "Grab your bag. We have to go."

Merle did as he was told. "What about your squeeze and her kid? You just gonna leave them here?" Didn't seem right to leave them unprotected.

Daryl picked up his bag, "Rick and Morgan will watch over them. Carol and Sophia are going to stay with Rick. We'll be back as soon as we can be."

Carol was in the kitchen packing food and water. Daryl hugged Sophia who was looking a little lost. "Me and Merle have to go somewhere. We'll be back soon." She nodded and carried his pack out to the truck with Merle.

Daryl was in the kitchen with Carol when they came back into the house. He picked up the bag of food and handed it to Merle. "I'll be out in a minute."

Merle sent Sophia out in front of him and turned to see his bashful brother wrap up Carol with his arms and kiss her like he fucking loved her. Merle went outside and waited with Sophia.

Daryl and Carol weren't long. Daryl was talking to Sophia and Carol turned to him, "You'll watch out for him? You won't let anything happen to Daryl?" She had been a mouse at the quarry but there was a fierceness about her now. She was a lioness and she would kill to protect her kitten or her mate. Good to know that she had some gumption after all.

"Ain't nothing going to happen to Daryl. You take care of Sophia and I'll watch over Daryl." He gave her a little pat and she surprised him by hugging him. Nice rack and ass. Daryl was definitely hitting that.

Sophia hugged him too, "You take care of yourself, Uncle Asskicker."

He hugged her back, "I always do, Little Missy. Nothing going to kill Merle but Merle."

Daryl hugged Carol, "Be safe."

Damn hug fest. You'd think they were the Brady Bunch from all those hugs and kisses.

Daryl and Merle were out the gates of De Novo and back on the highway in ten minutes. Daryl had filled him in on the dumb ass plan to rescue somebody's cousin. The boy had shit for brains but he was with Daryl and he was still sober.

Merle gave a silent prayer that De Novo wouldn't implode until they got back. He had family there.

AN

Merle is a lot more mellow in this story. Remember he hasn't lost his hand or joined up with Phillip Blake. He has been in counseling with Dr. Rahmiel Ferrell for months.

Rahmiel is the angel of love by the way.

Review and let me know how you feel about this story.