Chapter 10

Merle came back a short while later to find Daryl dozing against the tree trunk with Lily curled up in his lap, his arms wrapped around her. He shook his head, surprised and relieved at the sight. Apparently they were getting better acquainted without his having to nudge Daryl in the right direction. Good. His brother had always been the more tender hearted of the two of them, and he'd long known Daryl longed for a real home and a real family although Daryl would have vehemently denied it had anyone asked him.

Their upbringing had left them both disillusioned to the idea of everyone getting a happily ever after- but Merle also realized that although he himself didn't much care for other people's presence in his life, Daryl needed other people. He was someone who longed for approval, he wanted to feel needed by someone. Merle considered it a weakness on his brother's part, but that was who his brother was and he wanted to see his brother as happy as he could be in this shitty world. Thankfully luck or fate had thrown Lily into their path again and Merle was determined that Daryl should seize this opportunity because God only knew what they'd find as they travelled around. For all he knew, this group was the last people on earth at this point.

Merle stood silently watching his brother and Lily for a few minutes, then roughly kicked Daryl's foot to wake him up. Daryl started and Merle smirked at the embarrassment on Daryl's face.

"Wake up, lazy ass. We're gonna pack up and get moving. Dale spotted some walkers not too far from here, and we want to head out before they get up on us," and with that Merle commenced to packing up the camp site. Daryl shifted Lily off his lap and leaned her against the tree trunk he'd been leaning on.

"She's knocked out Merle," he whispered anxiously to his brother.

Merle nodded. "Good. We'll get packed up and then she can ride in the truck with you. I'll head up the front on my bike. You keep out of Shane's site." Merle snickered and shook his head. "You should see that asshole stomping around over there. Seems Rick told Shane that he was taking his new truck back, and thanked Shane for being so thoughtful for having brought Lori and Carl in it." Daryl looked at his brother sharply.

"He wasn't serious?" he muttered in surprise.

"No," Merle laughed louder. "You could tell he was trying to bait Shane into a fight. That Rick is more interesting than I gave him credit for. Yeah, this is gonna be real interesting to watch," and Merle wandered off to pack their belongings in the back of Daryl's old truck. Daryl glanced over at Lily, relieved she was still sleeping soundly. He finished cleaning up their campsite out of habit and then walked over to Lily to pick her up and carry her over to his truck.

As Daryl finished tucking her into the passenger side of his truck, he turned to see Shane heading toward their site. Nervously he yanked his leather vest off and threw it over Lily's face to cover her should Shane look into the cab. He strode over to Shane, blocking him from coming any closer to the cab.

"What the fuck do ya want?" he snapped irritably at Shane. He had felt an instant dislike toward this man as soon as he'd laid eyes on him, just like Merle had. And now he felt an intense hatred toward him. He wasn't going to pretend to be polite or pleasant toward him.

Shane smirked in that arrogant way that made Daryl want to knock the look off his face. Here was the same type of asshole he'd dealt with all his life-one of those pricks who thought they were better than him or his family and who were dead set on rubbing Daryl's nose in that knowledge as much as possible.

"Well, I realize you and your brother are busy but I just wanted to see if you were ready to head out. We're leaving in five. 'Course if you and your brother want to head off in your own direction, no one would stop you." Daryl grit his teeth as he tried to resist the urge to lunge at Shane and pound his face bloody.

"Fuck you," Daryl spat back. "Guess you're trying ta make yerself useful now that yer boss is here," he growled. Shane bowed up at that and took a step forward, his fists clenched and poised to swing. Merle whistled sharply, startling both men.

"Hey there, asshole. We don't need anyone tellin' us what to do. And I already pow wowed with Rick, the leader of yer little group, so we sure don't need your sorry ass traipsing around our stuff and bothering us," Merle nearly shouted as he swaggered over toward the two men. Movement caught the corner of his eye and he saw that Lily was gazing sleepily out the rear cab window. He walked toward Shane, trying to maneuver him to looking back toward the other camp and away from the truck.

Shane frowned angrily and as expected turned toward Merle. Merle tsked. Just like waving a red flag at a bull.

"You need to watch your damn mouth," Shane growled back at Merle.

"Or what? Ya gonna arrest me?" taunted Merle, stepping backward leading Shane further away from the truck. Daryl turned toward the truck and saw Lily sitting up gazing stupidly at him, obviously still drugged from the pill. He hurried over and yanked the cab door open.

"Lie down," he hissed urgently and Lily nodded and laid back down. Daryl hopped into the cab and slammed the door shut anxiously. He started the truck up and turned it around to face outward and waited for Merle to walk back and get on his bike. He could see Merle steadily running his mouth at Shane and when Merle saw Daryl in the truck he abruptly stopped walking and pointed at Shane, saying something. Then he laughed and easily sidestepped Shane and jogged over toward his bike. Shane turned to glare after Merle then turned and headed toward the truck he'd be riding in with Glen.

Merle motioned for Daryl to stay in the back and he rode off toward the front of the caravan. Daryl turned the air on low, the cab already stuffy even this early in the day. At least while they were in the truck they'd have some relief from the heat. He glanced over at Lily again and saw she was deep in sleep. Hopefully she'd sleep most of the ride and then they could figure out how to hide her once they set up camp again.