We been farmin' on this land
Since eighteen hundred ten
Through flood and drought
And pestilence and war
Now I sure am sad to say
That I've lived to see this day
When we don't grow tobacco
'Round here no more

Everything was silent for a full minute. Macyn immediately dropped to her knees, the gun held limply in her hand. She stared at Willy's body, at that hole in his heart. Blood poured from the wound, and Willy sputtered occasionally as his last breaths left his body.

Macyn crawled next to him; her chest heaved with heavy breaths. It was almost too much to process that it had all happened like this. Killing Willy Slater had crossed her mind several times in the past, but she never thought it would happen like this.

Finally, Willy's chest heaved in one last great effort to breathe and, when his lungs failed, his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He was dead.

Macyn didn't move. She gripped the gun tight in her hand and waited. She knew what would come next. Rick stepped forward, pointing his own gun at Willy's head. When the hammer cocked back, Macyn snapped from her reverie.

"Don't," she snapped. "Don't you pull that trigger."

"Macyn," Daryl spoke up, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He's going to come back. We have to stop it before it happens."

She shrugged Daryl's hand away from her. "No. I'm going to wait right here, and when this son of a bitch turns, I'm going to kill him again."

Daryl backed away and headed for the house, kicking at the dirt in irritation before he worked himself up the steps and back to the shelter. The others exchanged glances, and, oddly, Merle offered to wait outside with her.

Rick looked skeptical. "Why would you want to do that?"

"It ain't for her or you," Merle replied. "It's for my brother."

Rick exchanged a glance with the others, decided maybe it was all right, and headed back inside. If worse came to worst, they could come out and check on the trio if their return took too long.

Macyn let silent tears fall as she waited for Willy to reanimate. If there was any benefit to this zombie apocalypse, it was the opportunity it would give her to kill the bastard twice.

"You're so in love with Daryl, why are you crying over Willy Slater?" Merle asked gruffly.

"Wouldn't expect you to understand," Macyn replied, wiping her tears away. "You're always the one puttin' people through shit. Never thought about what it'd be like to go through some shit yourself."

Merle cocked his jaw before crouching down to her level. "That's where you're wrong, little girl. What I been through ain't much different than your life – just didn't quite make it to doctor school like you did. I got out and had to make a life for myself."

Macyn said nothing, simply aimed her gun at that spot between Willy's eyes when she saw his fingers twitch. It wouldn't be too much longer now.

"I know why you're cryin'," Merle told her. "I'd like to catch some reason that you aren't good enough for Daryl – like that you might still be in love with Willy Slater. I know he wasn't a good man. I'm not a good man either, Macyn. Daryl, he's a good man. Deserves a good woman like you. Willy used to tell me all the time when I first met him how good a woman you are. Said he didn't treat you right. You're crying because there were good times, but mostly because you're relieved the bad ones are over."

Macyn sniffled as she carefully stood, still with the gun aimed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Willy's eyes opened, but they weren't the eyes Macyn knew. They were drained of color and blood and weren't really staring at anything in particular. That now familiar groaning noise the walkers made rumbled from deep in his throat. Macyn wiped her tears once and for all, took aim, and pulled the trigger.

.&.

Rick and the other men took care of burning Willy's body. No use in burying him – no family was going to come and ask to see a grave. They were all gone already. Macyn had seen that happen with her own eyes.

When it was all over, Merle helped her back in the house where Lori and Carol helped her back into the bed. The two women made sure she had a glass of water on the bedside table and left her to rest.

Daryl chewed on his fingernails while he waited for them to come out of her room. He stopped Carol, questioning her about Macyn's state.

"She's tired," Carol told him. "I think she's been carrying the weight of the world for so long and now that Willy's gone, she's relieved. She needs to rest."

"She killed him twice, you know," Daryl told her. "Purposefully shot him in the heart so he'd come back and she could shoot him again."

Carol frowned. "And that bothers you?"

"I don't know," Daryl shrugged. "Why'd she have to drag it out? I mean, ain't she been through enough, she couldn't just end it?"

"You wanna talk to me about this, or you specifically want Carol's opinion?" Macyn asked from the doorway to her room.

Carol quietly excused herself; Daryl followed Macyn into her room, closing the door behind her.

"I just don't get it – he nearly killed you, Macyn. You had that gun pointed at his head and you moved your aim. I don't understand."

"What if it was your dad?" Macyn returned. "Or your mother. Imagine everything they did to you, Daryl. Killing Willy once to stop him from killing you wasn't enough. I'm not saying that I wouldn't kill Willy again if the only reason was to save you. All I'm saying is I think I deserve a little vengeance against him, too."

"What the hell are you sayin'?"

"I'm sayin', if your dad or your mom had that gun pointed at me, you would just shoot them in the head right off? You wouldn't give yourself the chance to kill them twice – to get back at them for what they did to you?"

Daryl let out a deep breath and pulled her to his chest. "You're right. I'm sorry. You've already been through so much just in the time we've known you, and I hate to see you go through more."

"That's why I did what I did," Macyn said, breathing in Daryl's smell. "So I wouldn't have to deal anymore with anything Willy could bring on."

Daryl kissed her forehead. "All right. Get some rest."

"You need rest, too. Will you stay with me and we can sleep?"

Daryl agreed and let her choose a side of the bed first. He covered her up, then laid down next to her, stroking her hair like he had the night before.

"I just want to sleep for hours," Macyn muttered as sleep once again claimed her healing body.

Daryl nuzzled into her hair, thinking that sounded like a very good idea.

.&.

And it was indeed a good fifteen hours before Macyn roused from sleep. Daryl was still peacefully sleeping beside her, so she carefully removed herself from his hold and covered him up. She pulled her sun-bleached hair into a messy bun and tiptoed into the hallway.

"Evenin'," Lori smiled at her. "How are you feeling?"

Macyn hugged her arms around herself. "Not too bad. Better now that I've slept. It's really nighttime?"

"You were out for a good fifteen hours," Lori informed her. "I'm just cleaning up from a late supper. Saved you some though."

"Not really hungry." She looked around. "Where's Merle?"

"Out keeping watch on the porch," Lori replied in a suspicious tone. "Why are you lookin' for Merle?"

"Just need to talk to him. I'll be out there."

She went back to her room for a gun and some boots. Daryl was still sleeping and she hoped he would stay asleep until she could have her conversation with Merle.

"Weren't you and Daryl all lovey-dovey sleepin' the time away?" Merle snorted when she sat next to him on the porch.

"He's still sleeping," Macyn replied. "I came out to talk to you."

"What could you possibly have to say to me, Macyn Ballard? You shot and killed my one remaining ally in this gone-to-shit world today, I'll remind you."

"Oh, that's a moment I'll never forget," she assured him. "But he wasn't your only ally, Merle Dixon. You've still got your brother."

Merle rolled his eyes.

"And me," Macyn continued. "I know you don't like me. You think I'm a know-it-all who just might be too smart for her own damn good. You think I'm just gonna be trouble for your brother – and I'll admit while it wasn't necessarily my fault, I did have something to do with what Willy did to him. But I don't want to be trouble for Daryl. I want to make things better for him. Things are different now, but one thing that's the same is this: family comes first. The family that sticks around, anyway. I don't have any family left but those people inside the shelter, Merle. And Daryl, he means the most to me. Can't hide that. You're his brother – you're Daryl's family. And any family of Daryl's is family of mine. I may not like you much, you may not like me much, and we probably would butt heads more often than not, but I'm not gonna let you die. Even if it means giving up my own life."

Merle looked at her. "So if it had been me with that gun to my head this morning, you would have done the same thing?"

"Without hesitation," Macyn answered, not skipping a beat.

Merle looked her in the eye; there was no hesitation, no deceit there. She meant every word she was saying.

"Go back inside," Merle directed her. "You are too damn smart for your own good, little girl."

Macyn noticed the slight smirk on his face; maybe she had won Merle over, for the time being anyway.

.&.

A couple of weeks later, Macyn was ready to get back to hunting and taking watches on a regular basis. Daryl didn't much like putting her in danger, but in these days, that was something that just had to be compromised on. She and Merle even seemed to be getting on just fine, which Macyn said she knew the reason for but refused to tell Daryl about. Just told him it was between her and Merle.

"Taking Carl with us today," Rick announced as he, Daryl, and Macyn readied for a hunt.

Macyn looked at Daryl, and he shrugged his agreeance. Carl beamed with pride as Rick handed him a hatchet and a gun, and gave him a few instructions on how to use both.

Macyn had to smile. In a world gone to pot, it was nice to see these father-son moments could still take place.

"What are you smiling for, girl?" Daryl teased. "You're not getting soft on me, are ya?"

Macyn gave him a flirtatious smile back. "You'd rather have a girl who was hard? Didn't feel nothin' at all?"

Daryl shook his head. "No, I guess not."

"Y'all be careful out there," Lori warned as she watched them go from the front porch. "Don't let my son get too far out of your sight."

Macyn turned back to give Lori an acknowledging wave and when she turned back, Daryl and Carl had gone ahead; Rick was by her side.

"She worries every time I leave that house. Could have lost each other real easy when all this shit went down, and several times since then."

"I know what you mean. It ain't easy to watch all this happen," Macyn nodded. "I grew up right in this town, Rick. I don't know how it hit where y'all were livin', but here it was gradual. Started with Mrs. Sanderson, just down the street. Police told people she went crazy after her husband died and started doing some weird-ass drugs, made her act the way she did. After that though, the Pastor got sick. Then Ellie Frantz, the old lady who always had something nice to say to everyone, even the worst in town. They just started dropping like flies, then comin' right back. Every time another one got sick, Willy'd tell me the end was comin'. Then, when they started reporting it was happening in other places, that it was a worldwide plague, we had to get real careful at the hospital. Every patient who came in was assumed to have it. We didn't know then that whether that was their ailment or not, it was the truth."

Rick swallowed hard and took a look at his son a few yards ahead. "I wish I didn't have to raise Carl in this mess. I'm not sayin' I'm disappointed that I found him and Lori, just that … I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't even think like that."

Macyn shook her head. "I get that, too. I used to think I'd give anything for Robbie to come back. Takes on a new meaning now, but even if he came back the brother I knew before he went overseas – no. It's just better he doesn't have to be around any of this."

Nothing else was said as they caught up to Daryl and Carl. They were not far off from the woods now. Macyn thought a lot about what she had told Rick. Even these woods – the very woods where Robbie had taught her how to shoot and how to hunt – were no longer the way she remembered them. Every plant and tree seemed to be nearly dead, and the animals were scarce, also a result of the walkers that came through. Things were just never going to be the way they were before.

Still, some of that held promise. Willy was gone, and he would never hurt her again. Same with her father. She was starting a new life, she felt like, even among all the chaos. She had Daryl, and, it seemed, Merle. They were her immediate family now.

The first of Daryl's arrows sailed through the air at a walker coming near them. Macyn watched the man pull the arrow from between the eyes of the creature and realized that a new life of blessings came with its fair share of curses, too.