Chapter Twelve: Parting Gifts
The smell of porridge cooking invades Merle's nostrils, gently bringing him back from his dreams to reality. The sunshine sneaking into the room tells him it is early morning, so he relaxes knowing he has plenty of time to prepare for his impending journey. He slowly gets out of bed and pops a few pain pills before entering the apartment's common space. His arm still hurt him terribly, but the pain was becoming more tolerable with each passing day.
He sees Mitch sitting at the table, in the same spot he had encountered Owen during the night. She quickly notices his presence and looks up at him, a warm smile on her face. Merle is slightly taken aback by her appearance. Her eyes are sunken and dull with heavy bags underneath, her usual glow now dulled after having spent the night awake tending to the needs of her uncles. He wonders if Owen informed her about their conversation.
His question is quickly answered as Mitch says cheerfully, "Morning Merle. Owen told me you two had a talk during the night..."
"Ya... The fuck is that guys problem?" Merle hisses as he pulls out a chair and sits down beside Mitch, pissed off that the old man had to go blabbing about their conversation. He digs into the bowl of still steaming porridge set out for him, chowing down hurriedly, as though he hadn't eaten in days.
"Well you did call him a faggot, among other derogatory things," Mitch shakes her head, "You can be such an asshole you know."
"Well he shouldn't be tellin' me what ta do..." Merle grumbles between mouthfuls of food.
Mitch shrugs, "Give him a break ok? He's been having a rough time, between Ed and the undead... Just lay off ok?"
"Fine… I'ma leavin' today anyway. Best ta jus get outta everyone's hair," Merle says as he pushes away from the table and stands.
"I know… Owen told me… Merle... You don't need to go..." Mitch pleas. The hurt and desperation in her voice causes Merle to turn back around and face her.
"Ya I do. Have ta find muh brother...But… Ya should come with me," the words escape his mouth before he realizes what he was saying. What the hell was he thinking? Asking her to come with him when she'd just be a liability, likely to get herself, him, or them both killed. However, those doubts immediately vanish as he watches Mitch's eyes light up, full of hope, transforming her pretty face into something of astounding beauty. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad having Mitch around. They could find Daryl and the three of them could go off on their own, survive off the land.
The fantasy playing in his mind comes to a jarring halt as he stops and listens to what Mitch has been saying, "I can't... I can't leave Owen and Uncle Ed... Especially now that Ed doesn't have much longer..." She sees the devastated look on Merle's face, so in an attempt to lessen his disappointment, she adds, "I want to... But I can't. I'll help you pack some supplies though… When were you planning on leaving?"
"Uhhh this..."
Before Merle can finish, Owen's cries of distress cause Mitch to jump from her seat and rush into the bedroom. "Hurry! Something's wrong!" Owen's screeches reverberate throughout the apartment.
Merle sits alone at the table and decides that he will leave soon. He spots a duffle bag lying on the floor by the boxes and picks it up. He assumes Mitch got it out for him to use since it wasn't there during the night. He begins to rummage through the boxes of supplies, picking out the cans of food he finds most appealing, and sets the chosen ones on the floor. He opens the bag and is about to toss in a few cans of hearty stew in when he notices that the bag wasn't empty to begin with.
A smile forms on his face as he identifies the objects only Mitch could have placed in the bag. He wonders where the hell she would have found them and knows she must have put some effort into this parting gift. Merle pulls a cigarette out of the half-full pack of smokes and sets it aflame with the Zippo lighter she also included. Just when he thought his day couldn't get any better, he grabs the book which had been nestled in one of the corners of the bag. The lit cigarette falls from his open mouth as he reads the title of the tattered book. He quickly picks up the fallen fire hazard and places it back in his mouth, inhaling deeply in an attempt to calm his shaken nerves. He begins to leaf through the yellowed pages of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and is unsure whether or not the nicotine he is inhaling will be enough to steady him.
When he reads the message Mitch had written inside the cover of his favourite book, he can feel his eyes swell with tears and the words, "Merle, be sure to give this to Daryl when you find him. Never forget how important family is," become blurry. He uses every last ounce of willpower and somehow manages to keep those tears inside. Crying was for pussies as Pa always said. Then again, no one had ever done something so thoughtful or insightful for him. He knows he doesn't deserve to be treated as such, but can't help but be filled with joy.
He moves to the couch and tries to read his new treasure, but the conflicting emotions bubbling within finally boil over, and he can't focus on the printed words. He wants to take Mitch with him because he is starting to like her and it wouldn't hurt to have a hot piece of ass around for the occasional fuck. However, if he were to take her away, that would mean he would be following Owen's command, and that just flat out pisses him off. With only one hand, it would be helpful to have another person around to help out with everything, including killing those rotting bastards that have invaded the world. Then again, Mitch didn't seem like the type to know how to fire a gun or be ballsy enough to lobotomize those creeps, so she might end up being more of a burden than anything. Merle sighs and decides to not decide. He wasn't planning on leaving right away which gave enough time for things to sort themselves out.
He attempts to read again. This time he is able to focus on the words. He is swept away in his beloved literary adventure as he read the words, "Tom! No answer. Tom!..."
