Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Walking Dead, AMC or anyone/anything else. This is purely for entertainment purposes and is fiction created by me. No copyright infringement intended on anything associated with this account. This story does not reflect the actual series and doesn't claim to be anything but me having a bit of extra time on my hands getting the mental dialogue from my make believe stories in my head on paper (or computer that is). Any and all original characters created by me are not and do not resemble any known person(s). If you have any concerns or questions about what I've written please contact me and I will be happy to discuss anything.

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DAWN OF A NEW DAY

**authors note- Compared to my other fan fiction stories…this story contains material of a more graphic nature than some of the others I've written. Like all of my stories is intended only for mature audiences only.

Chapter 10

They all sat just staring at the television in silence. Saying all hell had broken loose was an understatement. Georgia sat leaning forward in the chair with her face in her hands just listening. She couldn't bring herself to watch anymore. Janine sat close to Merle with her arm intertwined with his as Daryl sat there just staring at the tv chewing on the skin around his fingers. They watched for a few hours until all the channels went off air and to color bars. The loud tone coming from the tv quickly annoyed Merle as he shut the tv off.

No one knew what to say at first. Finally Janine stood up "We can't stay here...we're all going to die...Merle?...we're all going to die here!" Janine started to panic.

"Dammit Janine...just calm down!" Merle ordered.

"I'M SERIOUS MERLE! WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE, THERE'S GOT TO BE SOME PLACE SAFE!" Janine screamed at him as she started to head towards the door.

"WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?" Merle yelled back at her.

"JANINE STOP! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT COULD BE OUT THERE!" Georgia yelled after her.

Janine swung the front door open hard and ran outside. Merle ran after her as Daryl frantically looked around for where they had placed their handguns. Once he found them he ran after Merle with a gun in each hand.

Georgia started to follow but Grady stopped her. "Darlin' they're big boys...let them handle it..."

.

Janine had run over by Daryl's truck behind the bar. Janine kicked and screamed the whole way back to the bar as Merle resorted to flipping her over his shoulder and carrying her back. As they rounded the corner towards the door they heard the blast from a shotgun.

Merle practically threw Janine on the ground but grabbed a hold of her arm and dragged her into the bar, still screaming. He had his gun that Daryl had given him in the other hand and he followed behind Daryl, who had his gun raised.

As they entered the bar, they heard a second blast. Georgia was standing behind the bar with her shotgun raised, her eyes wide as a walker continued to head towards her with two gaping holes in it's chest. Grady was lying in a pool of his own blood in the floor not far from the door.

"It has to be in the head Georgia..." Merle hollered at her.

Daryl aimed and shot the walker in the head. As it dropped to the floor, Georgia slowly came out from behind the bar still clutching the shotgun. Once she saw the walker was no longer moving, she ran over and knelt down by her uncle, resting the shotgun on the floor next to her. Shocked at first she didn't know what to do. She was afraid to touch him not knowing where to begin.

"We have to do something..." Georgia managed to spit out. "Get me towels...do something...help me!" Georgia pleaded.

Merle locked the door behind him and headed over towards Georgia as he left Janine as a blubbering mess on the floor. Janine wailed as she buried her face into the floor as she laid near the door.

"It's too late sweetness..." Merle remarked.

Daryl just stood there not knowing what or if he should say anything.

"NO!" was the only thing Georgia could spit out before she began to cry. She stood up and grabbed Merle by the shirt. "DO SOMETHING...PLEASE!" she pleaded with him.

When Merle didn't respond, she wiped the tears from her face and rushed over to Daryl. "Please Daryl...please, there's got to be something you can do...DON'T JUST STAND THERE!" She yelled at him. Daryl couldn't even look at her.

Georgia turned back to Merle. "Merle?..." Tears began to steadily stream down her face.

Merle walked closer to Grady and held up his handgun, aiming at his head. Before he could fire, Georgia ran over and grabbed his gun. Merle gripped tighter refusing to let go.

"Girl...you need to let go." He told her.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" She screamed.

"He's dead...it's got to be done..." Merle told her.

"NO! NO YOU DON'T..." Georgia screamed at him again. She let go of Merle's gun and knelt back down next to her uncle. She stared at his lifeless body as she continued to cry. Merle was right...he was dead.

"Merle..." Daryl said as he looked at Merle waiting for him to do something.

Merle looked over at Daryl and lowered his gun by his side. "Let her see it...maybe then it'll sink in..."

"Come on Merle...don't..." Daryl pleaded with him.

Merle stepped back and turned around to look at Janine. She balled as she laid on the floor. "This is all your damn fault!" He told her. "If you hadn't gone running out there like a lunatic, it wouldn't have gotten in here..." He said to her coldly.

"Dammit Merle..." Daryl said as he raised his gun and started to walk closer to Grady.

"NO! LET 'EM BOTH SEE IT...LET THEM SEE WHAT HAPPENS...BOTH OF 'EM WANT TO ACT LIKE STUPID BITCHES GOIN' OUTSIDE WITHOUT THINKIN' THEN LET ME SEE WHAT REALLY HAPPENS..." Merle screamed at Daryl as he stomped off to the back of the bar and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. Merle slammed it on the counter along with a glass and poured himself a stiff one.

"God Damn stupid bitches...that man and I've been friends our whole lives...now look...just look at him!" Merle stated right before he chugged down the whiskey. He slammed the glass back on the bar and poured another.

Daryl walked over next to Georgia and gently grabbed her by her arm, lifting her back to her feet. "Come on..." He said as he led her back over to the bar. Daryl led her to one of the stools and she sat down. Daryl sat down next to her. He fired up a cigarette as they all sat in silence.

A few hours had passed and nothing had happened. Daryl started to wonder if they had it wrong somehow. Maybe he wouldn't turn. Finally Georgia spoke up. "What are we waiting for?"

Daryl looked over at her not knowing what to say. He was beginning to have doubts himself. It made him wonder what really happened with Jackson. He didn't know what to think about anything at this point. Up until the end the news reports only referred to it as an outbreak but never explained how or why it happened, most importantly they never fully mentioned the reanimation...

Merle walked up behind them on the opposite side of the bar. "That's what you're waitin' for..." as he pointed over at Grady.

Daryl and Georgia turned their heads and looked over at Grady. Georgia watched in horror as he began to reanimate. A part of Daryl had hoped they could've been wrong, that Grady wouldn't come back like this but now he too realized this could happen to any one of them.

Daryl slowly rose from his stool as walker Grady started to sit up. Grady hissed and growled as he looked at Georgia and Daryl. Georgia had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from screaming. Daryl aimed his weapon at Grady's head. Georgia couldn't watch...she had seen enough. She ran across the bar and up the stairs.

She heard the gunshot as Janine started to scream hysterically again.

"Dammit Janine...you got to fuckin' get a hold of yourself..." Merle yelled at her as he walked over to her. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her over to the couch and pushed her towards it. "Now calm yourself..."

Merle sat down in one of the chairs and rubbed his head. Daryl walked over and stood near Merle.

"What are you doin' here?" Merle asked him.

"Huh?" Daryl was confused not knowing what Merle meant.

"Get your ass upstairs...make sure she's alright...once this one quits makin' so much noise, we're leaving...but I ain't going down the road with this one wailing and makin' so much damn noise. Make sure Georgia packs her things...we ain't comin' back." Merle instructed as he rested his gun on the coffee table.

Reluctantly, Daryl headed upstairs...