Chapter 25: Tension
Daryl sat with Lydia on his knee. Merle leaned against the refrigerator. Carol sat next to Daryl. Negan and Lucy sat together across the table from Carol and Daryl. Lucy held the baby with her good arm and looked around anxiously. Negan eyed Merle who he thought had been eyeing Lucy for just a little too long for his liking.
"Where you from?" Merle asked first. Negan looked at Merle. Lucy looked at Negan. She cleared her throat to end the silence.
"Nebraska," she said softly.
"You came South? Why?" Daryl asked.
"We stayed in Nebraska as long as we could," Lucy offered. "It didn't work out." She looked to her husband, and he leaned back in his chair.
"We heard there might be a safe zone outside Chicago. Then it was Terre Haute. Then someplace near Louisville. By the time we got there, we had some thirty other people in our group. Some of them heard about a place along the train tracks out of Atlanta. Some sanctuary. Fifteen of our group went looking for it. Only one came back. Died a few hours later from blood loss. Bunch of goddamn cannibals luring people in with posters all along the tracks. You believe that shit?" Negan asked with a dry laugh. "Not only do we have these walking corpse freaks to worry about, now fucking human beings are eating other people?"
"So you kept coming South?" Daryl asked.
"Think I'd have been runnin' the other way if I heard there were a bunch of assholes out there looking to eat the meat off my bones," Merle scoffed. "But you kept goin' South? With a pregnant woman? Don't sound too smart if you ask me."
"Nothing North or West but a graveyard," Negan murmured. "Three weeks ago, there were ten of us left. Two weeks ago? Just four. Then the night Lucy got bit, that's when it came down to just the two of us. Did what I had to do. We drove for hours, 'til the car wouldn't go any further. Then we got out and walked. And that's when we found your place." Negan looked to Daryl. "Your Dog didn't like me too much. Your wife coulda let him chew my damn leg off, but she helped us. She didn't have to." Daryl looked to Carol.
"It wasn't an easy decision," Carol pointed out. "I'm still questioning my own sanity for letting in a couple of strangers." Her effort of easing some of the tension in the room with a little joke fell flat, and Lucy looked to her.
"But you didn't turn us away. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be dead. And my son? I know he would be. You saved us, Carol. We owe you…everything. It could have turned out a lot worse."
"Yeah, she's good like that."Merle spoke up. He looked to Lucy. "You were lucky. You had somebody to do it for you." He nodded toward her injured arm. "You were lucky the dead didn't sniff you out, bleeding like you must've been. Yeah, I passed out halfway through sawin' my own hand off. Woke back up to the smell of blood, the sound of those geeks clawing at the door and gnashing their teeth. Picked the saw back up and finished the job." He removed the prosthetic from his arm, revealing the horribly scarred stump where his hand used to be. Lucy flinched, and she looked to Negan. "It's a helluva thing, losin' a hand. Funny the things you take for granted. Even jerkin' off ain't the same anymore."
"Jesus," Negan groaned. "Do you really have to be here?" He looked to Carol and then Daryl. "Does he have to be here?" He looked to Merle's mangled arm. "Cover that shit up. Looks like you used a goddamned butter knife." Merle laughed, and he put the prosthetic back on.
"Get used to it. I did. She's gonna have to," Merle pointed out. "She's never gonna be the same again. Took a part of her with the arm, I reckon. Gonna have a hell of a story to tell your grandchildren, providin' the dead don't eat your boy." Negan pushed back his chair, standing and eyeing Merle. Merle grinned at him.
"Merle, shut the fuck up," Daryl spat. He looked to Lucy and Negan. "He's an asshole but he's harmless."
"Don't let my sweet baby brother fool you. Cut off my arm, not my goddamn balls. You look at me like that again, I'll cut you down. Don't care who's daddy you are." Merle looked to Lucy then. "You ever need a hand with anything, you call me." He looked to Negan and winked. "I mean anything." Negan grabbed Merle by the shirt then, punching him right in the nose and Daryl got between them, pushing them apart.
"Merle!" Carol sighed with exasperation. "I think you're forgetting who let you stay here. Go cool off." Merle wiped his nose, and turned to leave the house.
"Your brother, huh?" Negan asked, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.
"Yeah. Accident by birth," Daryl muttered. Negan smirked.
"Well, outta respect to your wife, I'll keep my distance from him. But I swear to God, he ever disrespects my wife like that again, I'll take his other hand."
"He won't. You got my word," Daryl promised. "You can stay. I got my own family to look after, but so long as you help out and pull your own weight, you can stay." He looked to Carol. "So long as everybody's on board with that."
"Keep that attack dog on a leash, and you've got a deal," Negan muttered. Dog, who had been laying on the floor nearby, raised his head. "I meant Merle. What the hell kinda name is that, anyway? Who names their kid that?"
"Probably the same kinda person who names their kid Negan," Daryl bit out, getting a swat on the arm from Carol. Negan laughed, and Lucy even managed a smile, but then her face fell, and she winced in pain.
"Baby, I'm tired," Lucy murmured, shifting the baby slightly. Negan leaned down and took his son, and she put her hand on his shoulder, and he helped her stand. "I need to lay down for a while."
"Just hold onto me. I've got you," he promised. He glanced at Daryl and nodded. "Nice to meet you. Thanks for the hospitality. We'll try not to wear out our welcome." They turned then, and Negan helped Lucy back to their room. He put the baby down in his cradle and helped Lucy down onto the bed and under the covers. When she lay her head back against the pillow, she reached out and stroked his cheek with her hand.
"Please, try to get along with Merle. He's a jerk and rough around the edges, but he kind of reminds me of someone I know and love."
"Don't say it," Negan groaned. "Babe…come on. He's a prick. A redneck prick."
"Yeah, but you weren't much better once upon a time. I remember you. The cocky baseball star."
"You liked the cocky baseball star," Negan grinned.
"Yeah, but I fell in love with the man underneath all that. You're a good man, and I love you, but you have to make this work. I can't go out there. Not with him." She looked to the baby. "I want to stay here. Carol's our friend, and she's helped us so much. I can't go back out there, babe. I can't."
"We won't. No matter what happens," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "we're not going anywhere."
...
"You're a dick."
"Tell me somethin' I don't know," Merle snorted, sitting down on his bed and reaching down to untie his boots with his good hand.
"Look, I ain't exactly thrilled they're here either, but they are, and so long as everybody gets along, that ain't gonna change."
"This is your place. Might not have been from the start, but you made it your own. You say who stays and goes, baby brother."
"You think I'm gonna turn away somebody hurt or sick? You think I'm gonna make somebody go out there with a baby with them things out there?" Daryl asked.
"There you go again. Thinkin' about somebody else when you got your own family to think about," Merle grumbled, looking up at him. "When are you gonna learn that this world ain't like the old one. Givin' to somebody weaker is just gonna make you weaker. I say, give 'em a week's worth of supplies, some ammo and send 'em on their way."
"They're here. Get used to it. And you stay away from that woman. She's got enough problems without havin' to worry about you."
"Didn't mean nothin' by it. Folks get their panties in a twist so easy these days. Least he stood up for his woman. Good for him. Still don't like the prick."
"You don't even know him."
"I'd like to keep it that way," Merle pointed out with a smirk. Daryl shook his head, and he turned to leave Merle for the night. He closed the door and headed across the hall for a quick shower. By the time he was finished, the house was dark and quiet, and when he walked into the bedroom, he saw Carol leaning over Lydia's crib. He locked the door and stepped up beside his wife, peering down in the crib and their sleeping baby.
"I moved her back in here for now. I feel better having her close."
"Good," he said quietly.
"You're mad, aren't you?" she asked, turning to look at him.
"I'm not mad. Just…they could've hurt you. Or Lydia."
"You weren't there, Daryl. She would've died if I hadn't let them stay. I know it. And her son's healthy. She's getting stronger every day." She reached out and put her hand on his arm. "You would've done the same thing. I know you would have. And I've been careful with Lydia. I keep her close, and if I'm not with her, I have the monitor on and Dog close by her. She sleeps in here at night, and I lock the door, because I worry. I was careful. I promise." Daryl sighed then and pulled Carol into a hug. "It's a death sentence out there. It wasn't smart, but it was the right thing to do. You know it." Daryl looked away, remembering seeing Beth's reanimated corpse coming at him. She was just a kid. Nobody deserved to die like that.
"I know," he murmured. "M'just glad I'm home. Hated bein' away from you."
"I hated it too. Did you find…anything?" Daryl looked up then, and she saw something flicker in his eyes. She swallowed hard when she saw his gaze falter, and he just nodded his head.
"I'll tell you about it. I just…m'tired, and I just wanna sleep next to my wife. Ain't slept for shit in days. I just…" Carol took his hand in hers then.
"Come to bed. We'll sleep, and in the morning, you can tell me." Daryl nodded then, and he followed Carol to the bed. They climbed in together, cozying up under the covers, and it didn't take long for sleep to pull them both under, safe in each other's arms.
Author's Note: I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I've been in a bit of a slump with some personal things going on, so my head's not been really in the writing game. I do hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to hear what you think. As always, thanks for reading, and feedback is always appreciated!