Sorry for the wait you guys, I've been so busy lately! Hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for all your reads and reviews!
"Well, well, well, now this is a surprise," Merle let out a chuckle, staring down at the two people on the ground. "Good old Glenn, and looks like his pretty girlfriend too. Guess you're tougher then I thought, little man."
Hannah watched the Asian (or Glenn, as she now knew) squint up at Merle in suspicious confusion. "You're not the only one who can survive, Merle. Though I am surprised you made it out of Atlanta."
"Well, the will to live is pretty powerful," Merle smirked. "But hey, enough of this chit chat. Let's get down to the important stuff. Is my baby brother alive?"
Hannah did not miss the hesitation on Glenn's face. It was obvious to her that Glenn knew the answer to that question, but was reluctant to give it. There was bad blood between Merle and this man, which most likely meant there was bad blood between Merle and the whole group (it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Glenn had been a part of Merle's old group). Though he'd never told her about it, she knew something big had gone down with Merle. She'd never pried on how he'd lost his hand, but she could see that Glenn and the group had something to do with it. Despite the fact that she could imagine Merle had probably not been playing nice, it still made her blood hot with anger to think that someone had done something to her man.
"Come on, Short Round," Merle was getting antsy at Glenn's silence. "You gotta tell me. Did my brother make it? If you don't tell me, I'm gonna come down there and beat it out of you!"
"Over my dead body," the girl snarled, whirling her gun to face Merle. "You touch him and I'll put one right between those ugly little eyes of yours."
"Maggie," Glenn warned, reaching out a hand to caution the girl.
"No," Maggie jerked away. "I won't let him threaten you like that!" She clicked the safety on her gun. "Just try to come down here, you bastard!"
Hannah could never remember afterwards what exactly happened. One minute she was standing on the trailer roof, listening to the others, the next she was flying through the air, no thought in her mind but knocking that snotty girl's teeth right down her throat.
The gun went off with a bang as Hannah landed on Maggie, the bullet flying wide of its intended target on the roof. She lost no time in scratching and clawing at the startled girl, who took a couple of nasty hits before shaking off her surprise and fighting back. Hannah was still weak from her ordeal with the men, but her anger made up for a lot. How dare this girl insult Merle like that? Nobody pointed a gun at her man and got away with it!
"Okay, that's enough, girl," Merle's voice said suddenly in her ear, his strong arms wrapping around her middle. She felt herself being gently lifted off the sputtering Maggie, and pinned against Merle's chest. She struggled, still wanting to hit the brown haired girl, but Merle just held her tighter.
"You gonna tell me about my brother now, or do we have to have a repeat of what just happened?" Merle narrowed his eyes at Glenn, who was helping Maggie off of the forest floor.
"I should shoot you and your…whatever she is right where you stand," Glenn glared, cradling Maggie against his side. "She could have killed her!"
"Glenn, I'm fine,' Maggie pushed away from him, brushing her matted hair away from her eyes. She looked right at Hannah, and Hannah was stunned to see not anger in her eyes, but a kind of respect. "She was just protecting what's hers, is all."
"But she- she-" Glenn sputtered out, before being hushed by a stare from his girlfriend. Maggie turned back to Merle and Hannah, thoughtfulness across her face.
"Why don't you two come with us," she said, causing everybody's eyes to widen with shock. "Then you'll see for yourself if your brother is alive or not. Weapons to me though, of course. Can't have you attacking us again."
Hannah felt Merle's arms trembling with tension and excitement. He gently squeezed her once, as if to say What do ya think? Do we trust em?
Hannah looked at Maggie, so different yet somehow so similar to her blonde haired sister. How would Beth feel if Hannah didn't trust her sister the same way she trusted her? Hannah felt that Beth was looking down at her, urging her to go with her sister. She squeezed Merle's arms back, saying Yes, we do. Let's go.
"Alright," Merle let Hannah go and tossed his gun and the knife extension to his prosthetic to Maggie. "Lead on, fearless leader."
And that was how Hannah found herself trudging along beside Merle through the woods, her hand tucked securely into his. Maggie lead the way, with Merle and Hannah behind her, and Glenn at the rear. Hannah could hear him muttering to himself about "isn't safe" and "could kill us all" and "they are gonna freak". It made her a bit nervous. They were obviously heading towards a group that was hostile towards Merle, and would kill him if they felt he was a threat. She shuddered at the thought, moving closer to Merle. He sensed her uneasiness, and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Don't worry darlin' ", he whispered down to her. "I won't let them hurt you. No one hurts my girl, remember that."
Hannah nodded, not bothering to tell him that it was him she was worried about, not her. They continued on for a little while longer, until they came upon a large clearing. Merle let out a low whistle. Hannah gasped.
In the middle of the open area stood what could only be a prison. It loomed up against the horizon, massive and intimidating. Chain link fence surrounded the entire building, creating a good wall against any invading walkers. There were a few down at one end of the fence, but they seemed to be distracted. Hannah was impressed. A prison would have been hard work to take over, but a good holding place once you got in.
"Come on," Glenn's voice came from behind her. "Let's get inside before more walkers come."
They made their way down towards what was clearly a gate, a lone blonde man in a prison jumpsuit pacing back and forth behind it. When he saw them coming he immediately stopped his pacing and ran to unlock the gate.
"Did ya find her? Are you okay? Who are these people?" he asked as they quickly shimmied inside, the gate clanging shut behind them.
"We're fine," Glenn replied, his face terse. "Run and get Rick. Tell him we got an old friend come to visit."
The blonde man nodded and ran off. Glenn lead them up through the grassy yard onto the pavement courtyard. Hannah clutched Merle's hand tighter. She had a very uneasy feeling about this…
"Well this day just keeps getting more and more surprising," Merle let out a laugh as they watched an assortment of people exit the prison and come towards them. "Officer Friendly, how are you?"
A tall, grim faced man had come the closet to them, his gun trained on Merle. He had the look and air of authority. Hannah immediately guessed him to be the group's leader. She looked around at the other people gathered. There was the blonde who opened the gate, a gray haired lady holding a baby, a kid of about thirteen, an old man leaning on crutches and a big black guy in a prison jumpsuit. No sign of anybody who could be Merle's brother.
"You survived Atlanta," the tall man stated, squinting in the bright sun. "Course you did, Daryl did say only you could kill you."
Merle chuckled. "He'd be right. Now, your trusty Asian wouldn't tell me the answer, but maybe you can. Is Daryl alive?"
The man snorted. "Like we're going to tell you that. You learned to play nice with others yet?"
Hannah could feel Merle tense up beside her. "I ain't gonna play nice with you if you don't tell me where my brother is."
"We can't trust you," the man held his ground. "You shouldn't even be here." He turned to Glenn, "Why didn't you just shoot him when you had the chance?"
Glenn opened his mouth, but at a sharp glance from Maggie, closed it. He looked at the man and shrugged. The crowd around them said nothing, all of their eyes on the tall man.
"Well whatever," the man sighed. "I'm tired of people butting into this group. You are not one of ours, Merle Dixon. You don't deserve to know if Daryl is alive or dead. You lost that chance back in Atlanta." He raised his gun. "Maybe your brother thought only you could kill you, but I think otherwise."
Hannah's eyes went wide, her heart pounding in pure terror. She watched in horror as the tall man squeezed the trigger on his gun. The bullet seemed to fly in slow motion. Without even thinking about it, she let go of Merle's hand. She looked up at him, his face frozen in a mask of resignation and fear. In that split second (thought it felt like hours), she made her decision.
A flash of blinding pain, the sound of a woman's shrill scream, and then there was blackness.
Crazy Rick is still crazy. I think he might stay crazy for the rest of his life lol.