"We have to go back. Please, Rick," I begged. I had long ago given up the fight against my tears. As quickly as I wiped them, they just kept flowing. "We have to go back for him. What if they captured him? What if they're torturing him? Please."
Rick hung his head, leaning against a discarded car. Rust had begun to eat away at the metal. "Okay," he finally gave in. I had been pleading with him for almost an hour, so when he finally agreed, my heart fluttered in anticipation. "You're right. We need to go back, but we need people to stay here with Glenn. You—"
"No," I cut him short. "Give me a gun, Rick. I'm coming with you."
Adeline approached us, handing over her gun to me. "I'm getting tired to killing people," she said nonchalantly. "I'll stay back. You guys go." The gun felt so cold and unwelcoming in my hands. I knew I would have to shoot people – innocent people – but this time, I had to stomach it. I couldn't back down and just let them have Daryl.
Rick loaded his weapon and double checked to make sure I had enough bullets to protect myself. Before I knew it, we were back in Woodbury, running through the empty, abandoned streets. Smoke rose from the side of the small town, so we hurried in that direction. Cheers and shouts echoed louder as we came closer. Rick pulled me toward an overturned van, peering over to see what was going on.
The people of Woodbury formed a semicircle around two men and a small group of walkers. Squinting hard, I could make out Daryl's figure. Next to him stood a larger man whose right arm had been replaced with a metal coating. Back-to-back, they fought off the walkers that lunged at them, their teeth bared for flesh. I covered my mouth to quiet my cry of distress.
I glanced at Rick and he nodded at me. Raising my gun over the vehicle, I peered through the sights, focusing on a walker that had been detained with a metal rod. Exhaling slowly, I squeezed the trigger, watching as the head exploded into bits of rotted brain tissue and skull pieces. The crowd gasped in surprise and as Rick hurled a gas grenade toward them, they flew into a frenzied panic. Screams erupted as people tried to escape from my shots. I relentlessly fired, aiming for anyone I could. Most of them missed, but as people dropped to the ground in a pool of their own blood, I found myself attacking without thinking.
"Go, go!" Rick yelled over the gunfire.
I threw my weapon over my back, sprinting into the crazed gathering. Coughing in the smoke, I called out Daryl's name. A surprised yelp flew from my lips as a hand circled around my arm.
"Nice to see you finally grew a pair of balls," Daryl's gruff voice sounded in my ear. I suppressed a hysterical laugh as I dragged him back toward Rick, who was already on his way back to the rest of our group.
My lungs burned from exhaustion and smoke that had entered. I slogged along, hauling Daryl's arm over my shoulder. From my peripheral, I could see the other man behind us, constantly peeking over his shoulder to see if we were followed. In his regular hand, he carried Daryl's crossbow proudly.
Once we reached the car that we had left our group at, my heart shattered when I realized that they were nowhere to be found. Rick stated that they probably encountered walkers and fled back to our car. I hoped, more than anything, that his words were true.
We continued through the night. After a few hours, Daryl had taken his weight off me, saying that he was okay to walk. A deep gash was made obvious on his left leg, so I stayed close as he limped along. Rick and the man behind us constantly argued.
"You ain't coming with us," Rick sternly told him.
"You know, I think you owe me for lockin' my ass up on that rooftop, Officer Friendly. Ya cost me my damn hand!" the man retorted.
I glanced sideways at Daryl, who seemed to be concentrated on blocking the two out. "I'm guessing that's Merle," I whispered too low for anyone else to hear.
"How'd you guess?" he replied.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the way he argues for hours." I let out a small giggle, but he didn't find it as amusing as I did. "That, and you two have the same nose."
o-o-o
"Glenn!" Rick roared as the car came into view the next morning. "Adeline! Maggie! Axel!"
Exhaustion had settled over me long before we reached the rest of our group. My eyelids drooped and my thoughts became jumbled. Somewhere along the trek, Daryl had taken the weight of my gun off my back. I hardly remembered it enough to think back on it.
Adeline came running toward us as quickly as she could. Before I could realize what happened, she scooped me into a tight hug, whispering quickly, "I'm so glad you're safe."
Glenn appeared behind her, followed by Michonne and Axel. Rick tried to tell him to calm down, but weapons were already drawn. Michonne unsheathed her blade and headed for Merle while Glenn drew a gun toward the same man. Daryl and Rick stood in his defense, yelling for everyone to calm down. Meanwhile, Adeline and I stood off to the side, refusing to jump into the middle of it.
"He tried to kill me!" Michonne shrieked, glaring at Merle.
"He helped us get out of there!" Daryl retorted.
"Yeah, right after he beat the shit out of you!" Rick added.
"Hey, we both took our licks man," Merle said with a chuckle.
My mouth fell open as I glared at him. "You're such a jackass!" I shouted.
Merle lifted his pointer finger toward me. "Keep yer mouth shut, bitch!"
In a flash, Daryl whipped around and delivered his fist into his brother's stomach. "Don't talk to her like that!" he shouted, watching as Merle doubled over. I blinked at Daryl in surprise. He was sticking up for me? Was the world ending for a second time? He turned back, pushing the barrel of Glenn's gun from his face. "And get that thing out of my face!"
A pained, throaty laugh came from Merle as he struggled to stand on his feet. "Looks like you've gone native, little brother."
"No more than you hangin' out with that psycho back there!" Daryl defended.
"Oh yeah, man, he is a charmer. I've got to tell you that. Been puttin' the wood to your girlfriend Andrea big time, baby," he teased, winking toward Michonne. He licked his lips seductively, glancing her up and down.
This man was the complete opposite of Daryl. Other than the nose, I couldn't see how else they were related. Merle was downright disgusting. He was a pig in every sense of the word. I could never imagine Daryl acting the way he did. Not in a million years.
"Andrea's in Woodbury?" Glenn asked, looking between Rick and Merle.
"Yeah," Daryl answered, his voice much calmer. "Right next to the Governor."
Michonne's blade lifted once more, this time pointed toward Daryl. I instinctively reached for my knife, but before I could attack her with it, Adeline pulled me back. Rick threw a warning glower in my direction before turning to the enraged woman.
"You know Andrea?" he demanded to know.
"Yep, she does," Merle answered for her. His tone sounded as if this was all just one big joke. "Her and blondie spent all winter cuddled up in the forest. Mmm, yeah. My Nubian queen here had two pet walkers. No arms, broke the jaws off so they don't be bitin' anythin'. Kept 'em in chains. Kind of ironic, now that I think 'bou—"
"Shut up, you dick!" I snapped, taking a step to shove the man over. He hardly budged, but as I moved away from him, he bit down on his lower lip and nodded. I cringed and began to open my mouth to spit at him, but Daryl grabbed my arm and forced me away from his brother.
"So, whatcha going to do now, sheriff?" Merle asked, turning his attention (thankfully) away from me. "Surrounded by a bunch of lairs, cowards, and dumb blonde bitches."
"Shut up!" Rick bellowed.
Giving a spiteful laugh, Merle glanced around at our group. I resisted my urge to deliver my fist right into his face. "Look at this pathetic sight. All these guns and no bullets."
Daryl released me to place his face only inches from his brother's. "I said, SHUT UP!"
"SHUT UP YOURSELF, YOU BUNCH OF PUS—"
With the hilt of his knife, Rick slammed it into Merle's neck. The man collapsed on the ground in a loud thump. For a moment, Daryl and Rick stared each other down. I became worried that they would start to fight, but when the archer gave a grateful smirk, I sighed in relief.
o-o-o
"Sorry 'bout my brother," Daryl murmured as he approached me. I sat in the car with the door open, rubbing Neosporin into the cuts on my hands and my arms. He leaned against the metal, staring into the woods where we had left Merle. After scouting the area and seeing no walkers, it was a unanimous decision to give him a few hours of unconscious timeout. We all needed a break from him.
"Don't worry about it," I answered, curling a lock of grimy hair behind my ears. "That's the great thing about family. You love them, but you don't have to like them."
Giving a resentful scoff, he nodded. "Ain't that the truth."
I gazed at his hands, which looked so much worse than mine. "Here." I took hold of his left hand, squeezing the clear gel onto his cuts. Gently, I rubbed it in with the pad of my fingers. I half-expected him to flinch away from my touch, but he eased into it instead. Feeling his eyes on me, my face began to heat up with embarrassment.
"Thanks," he mumbled once I was finished. He continued to rest his hand in mine. "And uh, thanks for, you know, savin' my ass back there. Rick told me how much you bugged him to go back."
"It just didn't feel right leaving you back there," I answered honestly, refusing to look up at him.
Finally, he took his hand from mine. "You're not as worthless as I thought."
o-o-o
"Wait, what? You're leaving?"
I stumbled after Daryl, stopping only when my arms latched around his bicep. He stopped abruptly, turning to face me. I could hear Rick calling after him from the car. Rage swirled inside me, but I wasn't sure who I was more bitter toward. Daryl, for leaving us when we needed him. Rick, for letting him leave. Merle, for being the reason why he was leaving.
"No Merle, no me," Daryl whispered, softly pulling himself from my grasp. "Take care of yourself."
All of a sudden, I knew who I was the angriest at: myself. Only for the sole reason that I just watched him walk toward his brother, who welcomed him with an open arm, instead of chasing after him and not looking back.
