"Come on babe!" Beth called out.
Merle was supposed to be following behind her. This was one of the few times he had let her lead going into a building. The plan had been for him to stick close behind, but he had yet to come into the kitchen, the last room they had to check.
Beth heard an odd crunching noise in the kitchen, and a flash of fear spiked thru her. She quickly moved back to the doorway, pulling her gun. She counted to 4, then spun around the corner.
Part of her expected to see Merle dead on the floor, being torn apart by walkers. Part of her expected the room to be empty. None of her expected to see what happened. Merle was stuck.
Beth burst out laughing when she saw Merle's predicament. What looked like pieces of a walker hung around the hole in the cupboard he had made when stabbing at the walker. Unfortunate the wood gave and Merle was now jammed tight by his arm.
"This isn't fuckin' funny!" Merle growled as he ripped at his arm piece. The release was just a fingers width away, leaving Merle trapped.
Beth chuckled. "The house is cleared, you're perfectly safe. Plus I'm here, and I have a camera!"
Merle 's face dropped when she mentioned the camera. "Don't you dare little missy!"
Beth smirked as she held up the camera. "Smile!"
Merle glared at her and raised his hand to flip her off right as she clicked the shutter. Beth giggled as she pulled out the photo and placed it on the counter along with the camera and bag. She walked up to Merle and examined his arm. Merle glared at her as she stood close.
"I'm going to make you regret that."
Beth smirked to herself, before thinking a sneaky idea. Putting on her biggest doe eyes and angel face she looked up at Merle.
"What'cha gonna do? Spank me?"
Merle went still in an instant, before smirking at Beth. He never expected to hear something like that from her, but Beth was constantly surprising him.
"None of that now. My arm is stuck. Again. What the fuck is wrong with this arm?" he muttered to himself as Merle yanked on the arm piece again. He was beginning to feel the start of a panic attack. For obvious reasons he wasn't fond of being trapped, especially by his arm.
"Stop, you're cutting yourself. Here, let me try to cut away some of the board. It'll take longer but you won't get cut up as much.
"Angel I love you to death but if I don't get my arm out in the next ten seconds I'm goin' to start flipping shit." Merle hissed as he looked down at her. Beth glanced up and saw a hint of panic in Merle 's eyes.
"Easy babe. Let me take the arm piece off. Then hopefully you can pull out your arm without cutting it too bad." Beth said softly as she worked at the arm piece.
As it clicked off, Merle immediately yanked his arm out of the hole, leaving a deep cut on the back of his arm.
"Merle ! God that was what I told you not to do!" Beth snapped at him as she grabbed at his arm to examine it. All Merle could do was take deep breaths.
"Angel I don't give a shit. I can't do bein' trapped. Can't and won't." Merle growled as he ripped his arm away from her and stalked from the room.
Going down a hallway he soon found a bath room, and began washing his arm off. As he leaned over the sink Merle took a glance up in the mirror. He took in the dirt, the stains, and the wrinkles. In the reflection he saw Beth appear behind him. Even in the same state as him; filthy from clearing the houses, she was still gorgeous.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly. Merle sighed when he saw how she hung back.
"I'm fine angel. Just... Had a moment then." he said, grabbing a towel and holding it to the bleeding cut on the back of his arm.
Beth walked up beside him and Merle held his arm out to her.
"No stiches, but I'd like to bandage it up. And maybe have you not wear the arm piece for a few days." Beth said as she looked up at Merle .
Merle nodded. "Sure thing angel. Come on, let's get this done. Looking forward to a nice bed to sleep in."
Beth smiled at him as they walked out of the bathroom, towards their bags. Heading upstairs they found the master bedroom, and set the bags down. Beth pulled out the supplies and set to work on Merle 's arm. Merle looked down at Beth as she wrapped his arm. As she put away the supplies, Merle pulled her down onto the bed, on top of him. He pressed his hand into her hair and kissed her deeply.
"You know you're still in trouble for the camera right?" Merle smirked as he brushed her hair out of her face.
Beth smirked right back at him. "Oh I'm counting on it."