Chapter Thirty-Eight
"I want to be with my brother. Princess here wants to be with her sister. And they want to be in the prison. This little trip? Maybe it'll keep that place standing. If we pull it off, maybe all is forgiven."
At this point, it seemed like he was talking more to Delilah than Michonne, or maybe just out loud to himself, but she wouldn't look at him.
"That's a whole lot of maybes," Michonne said.
"Gotta play the hand you're dealt," he retorted, stopping at a house and staring at a gold colored car covered in leaves. "I only got one."
"How original," Delilah retorted, and she heard Michonne snort.
He ran to the car, inspecting it by opening the door, and shut it again.
"You talk about the weight of what you have to do," Michonne said when he shut the door and turned around. "How you can handle it. A bad man, someone truly evil, they're light as a feather. They don't feel a thing."
"I've killed 16 men since all this went down," Merle admitted. "Let's go."
They stopped at a one story motel.
"All right. I think we're good."
"Yeah, we're great," Delilah said sarcastically.
He tied the remaining wire around a pole, and Michonne glared at him as he did.
Delilah followed as he walked over to a car, breaking off the antenna and using it to break into the car.
"She's the first person to tell you you're not a bad person and you still want to do this?" Delilah asked quietly.
"What?"
"You heard me."
Merle sighed, pausing trying to hot wire the car and looked at her.
"Don't do this, Princess."
"No, you and I both know that the Governor isn't going to 'give peace a chance'. Our best chance is an assassination."
"I'm not havin' this argument," Merle said, going back to hot wiring the car. Delilah rolled her eyes, and stayed silent.
For a few moments, the only sounds were the engine sputtering and Merle giving words of encouragement. Delilah looked around, waiting for some of the prison's group to find them.
They didn't.
Suddenly, the car alarm began to sound, and Delilah jumped.
"Good going!" she yelled, drawing her knife.
Walkers began to lurk forward, and Delilah backed away, knowing she couldn't take on all of them. The temptation to run, to leave them both behind, was rising. The temptation to cut Michonne loose and run was also tugging at her mind.
Neither of which she did.
"Merle! Come on, Merle!" Michonne yelled. But he didn't listen – he was too busy trying to turn the alarm off.
Delilah began to take out the walkers, and that's when the alarm shut off and Merle began to shoot. One was trying to bite Michonne, and that's when Delilah ran over, stabbing it in the head.
Michonne stared at her, and Delilah stared back.
"Cut her loose! Come on, let's go, Princess!"
Delilah looked back before looking at the wire holding Michonne to the column. She cut it, and they both ran to the car. Michonne got in the passenger seat, and Delilah got in the back, taking the assault rifle that Merle handed her.
She didn't miss the look Michonne gave her.
They could have run.
"So is this your thing now? Taking out the trash?" Michonne asked as they drove past a walker.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, darlin'."
"The Governor, Rick, anyone who needs their piss bucket emptied, and you two come a-running."
Delilah didn't want to admit that she was right – but she was. She still refused to do things that were wrong – although at this point, it was more she refused to do things that would come with no result, like interrogating Maggie.
She was never this obedient – just doing things for a man because she was told, and because he saved her life. Or, in Merle's case, because he was her friend. And she refused to give up on him.
And for a brief moment, she wondered what happened.
"Things are different for your brother. Carrie, too."
"Yeah, they are," Merle retorted. "Rick says jump, he wants to know how high."
"Rick needs him. And Carrie. Respects them. Didn't ask them to do this little job, now, did he?"
"No, 'cause he wants it done."
"You keep telling yourself that," Delilah mumbled, glaring at him.
"The truth is, this could've been your shot," Michonne added. "With your skills, a whole new beginning. But you choose to stay on the outside. No one's gonna mourn you. Not even Daryl."
She looked back at Delilah before adding. "Or Carrie. They've got a new family."
"You keep trying to get under our skin, I'm gonna cut that tongue out."
Michonne rolled her eyes and turned back around, but Delilah continued to stare at her. She was right.
"Your buddy's turnin' you over 'cause he's trying to save his own ass. You're as much on the outside as I am, girl."
"Maybe. But once the Governor's done with me, at least I won't have to live with myself.
Silence.
"You said you killed 16 men since this thing started? You ever kill anyone before?"
"No."
"And how about before Woodbury? Before you met him?"
No answer, and Michonne raised her eyebrows before turning to Delilah.
"What about you?"
"I was in the armed forces," Delilah answered.
"Did you kill anyone?"
"One person. And I hated myself."
She nodded.
"And after you met him? Did you hate yourself then?"
Delilah, too, didn't answer.
"So, he saves your life, cleans you up, fed you a line of bullshit... why would you kill somebody else for him? You know, we could go back."
"Ain't happenin'."
"All of us. We can just go back."
Merle shook his head. "I can't... go back. Don't you understand that? I can't."
"Why?" Delilah asked.
He shook his head, but he looked back at her. And that's when she saw it. Regret. And a plan.
"Stop the car," she said gently, and he did.
Michonne stared between the two of them before Delilah reached forward, knife ready. She cut the wire binding Michonne's hands, and Merle opened the door.
"Go," Delilah said. "Tell them to get ready."
"We got somethin' we gotta do on our own," Merle added.
As Michonne shut the door, Delilah climbed the seats and sat in the front. She stared out the front window as they drove off.
"Freckles."
Carrie looked over at him, and he nodded behind her. She turned around, and there was Michonne, stabbing a walker.
"Hey!"
She looked up, and they walked forward.
"Where are they? You kill them?"
She shook her head. "They let me go."
"Don't let anyone come after us," he said, and Carrie followed him as he left.
They sat in a parking lot, windows halfway down, music blaring. They'd gotten a bottle of alcohol from inside the store, and they were slowly drinking it.
Walkers began to pile up at the window, trying to reach in and grab them.
Merle laughed as he pantomimed a walker drinking, and Delilah rolled her eyes.
He put the bottle in her hands, and she took a drink.
He turned up the radio, and drove forward slowly.
The walkers trailed behind faithfully.
They finally pulled up to the meeting place, and that's when Merle looked at her before opening the door and ducking out of the car. Delilah stared after him for a moment before quickly following.
They ran into one of the sheds, shutting the door behind them.
Watching from a window, they saw the men split up, trying to find the source of the music.
They began to shoot at the walkers, and that's when Merle and Delilah began to shoot them.
Her heart was racing and palms were sweating.
Suddenly, a walker came up behind Merle.
"Shit!" she yelled, grabbing her knife.
But before she could get to it, Merle had already stabbed it through the head.
Which wouldn't have been a problem, if he hadn't lost his footing and fell through the door.
Immediately, men were on him, kicking him down.
"Leave him alone, you fucks!" she yelled before running forward. She jumped on one of their backs, and began to punch him in the head.
"Get this bitch off me!" they yelled. She recognized the voice – Martinez. Someone pulled her off, and back in the shed they went.
Someone was holding her back. All she could do was watch – kicking and screaming – as Merle and the Governor fought it out.
She'd never seen Merle loose a fight.
Until today.
Still silence.
"I ain't gonna beg. I ain't beggin' you!"
"No," the Governor said simply.
That's when he raised his gun.
"No!" Delilah screamed as one shot rang out. It rang in her ears.
Tears filled her eyes, and overflowed.
This isn't happening. This isn't happening.
Someone grabbed her face, and forced her to look up. It was the Governor. She glared at the man before spitting in his face.
He laughed a humorless laugh as he wiped it away.
"You shouldn't have come."
He nodded to the person in back of her, who let her go.
Delilah didn't even have time to think about running before a single bullet went through her heart.
The meeting place was overrun with walkers. It made Carrie nervous that there was fresh meat lying around that most of them were occupied with.
Daryl looked at her, and motioned to their right, and she nodded.
She walked that direction, knife close, looking at the remains of both walker and human.
She took out the few walkers that were in her direction, and she paused when she came across one with long, dark hair.
Her heart stopped.
"No," she said, her voice cracking, as the walker turned around.
Skin gray, green eyes rimmed and bloodshot, with a single bullet wound to the chest.
Delilah.
She knew what she had to do, the question was, could she do what she had to.
Carrie felt herself backing away as Delilah stalked towards her, arms reaching and her mouth releasing growls that would haunt Carrie for the rest of her life. Sobs choked Carrie's small body.
With a cry, the knife plunged into Delilah's forehead, and the growls stopped.
With some effort, she pulled the knife away, and she heard it hit the ground.
That's when she felt the dirt at her hands and knees.
She felt sick.
She didn't look, she didn't dare.
Daryl found her minutes later, where Carrie was just beginning to stand. He helped her, and stopped her as she started to look back at what was left of her sister.
"Come on," was all he said. From the look in his eyes, and the blood on his shirt, she knew that Merle was gone, too.
They went back to the prison.
What'd you guys think? I hope you enjoyed, but let me know in a review, 'cause I always love to hear it.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week.
-SparrowEyedGirl