A friend of mine and I were discussing on Twitter how it seems lately as if we are all in one giant ant farm and God, or whoever you think is up there in the sky is holding a giant magnifying glass at us just for fun. It's one thing after another, so I started thinking of a ZA story. I'm going to float this chapter out and see if anyone is interested.
GOD"S ANT FARM
Chapter 1: Pictures of You
********I've been looking so long at these pictures of you
That I almost believe that they're real
I've been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures are
All I can feel********
.
/
Daryl overslept the day the world ended, well, the day it began to end. The sun was out, blaring through the dirty blinds that hung in the window. He rolled over trying to get away from it, it was too early and he was too hungover.
Eventually he shuffled out of his room and into the kitchen for coffee. Merle was sitting there at the table drinking his third cup and having a smoke, he offered one to Daryl and he accepted.
This day was getting started just like any day, with a headache and regret. Daryl didn't remember a whole lot about the night before, but Merle filled him in. He had called Mina again, once he was drunk off his ass. He did that often, sometimes she answered, and sometimes she didn't. She had not answered the night before and he had been disappointed.
Daryl did remember that part.
He missed her, and he knew she missed him, she never turned him away when he called or showed up at her door. They had slept together that one last time to say goodbye eight times. Last night, if she would have answered, it would have been nine.
The divorce was still so new, it had only been six months, people said it would get easier. They hadn't fallen out of love, not really, but they couldn't live together and sustain it.
Daryl knew that threatening to beat the shit out of every guy that looked at his wife was not the answer, he knew that, now. They had fought all of that out but it still stung, he hadn't been able to control his jealousy and it had been the end of them.
It was pointless to beat himself up over it, Merle told him that every day, but Daryl was the sweet one. He blamed himself. Yes, he had a temper and yes he was insanely jealous, but that was just a Dixon trait, all the men in their family were like that.
Maybe if he had just done things differently though...
On July 10th at high noon it didn't matter anymore, because that was when it all went down. There had been a new flu going around for weeks. First it was a news report of a sickness in another country that was highly contagious, killed people quickly and was not to be messed with. No one really paid attention until it was knocking on everyone's back door, it was in the USA in three weeks. Then it was an issue and then it was too late.
As this was going on, two towns over a police officer got shot in the shoulder during a shootout on the old Rt 9 highway. It was on the news and that had been the last piece of normal news that anyone had heard.
The army showed up soon after, took some people away and the rest were told that they should stay inside to be safe. He had been calling and calling Mina for days by then and there was still no answer, had she gotten sick? Had they taken her away? His heart couldn't stand it.
Soon the phone lines were jammed and he had convinced Merle to go with him to her place. They were leaving town to go to ground at their grandfather's hunting cabin until the kaos blew over.
If the shit was hitting the fan he wanted to protect her, and Merle wasn't surprised by that at all. That was his little brother. Mina wasn't home and she wasn't at work and by dark things were going downhill fast. They stayed in town for as long as they could but finally, the next day Merle convinced Daryl that they needed to leave before either the army came back or worse.
There were rumors and people were acting strange, there were killings in the streets. This was no time to be in town, they needed to go off the grid.
"Wait," Daryl yelled as they were backing out of the driveway, Merle stopped and gave him a dirty look as he ran back into the house, down the hall to his bed room, He flew over the bed in a rush to get to his nightstand, yanked open the drawer and spilled everything on the floor. But he saw it go flying across the floor; a glint of gold and Daryl dived on the floor after it.
There was no way he was leaving without the ring she put on his finger seven years ago. On his way out the door he grabbed a picture of the two of them in happier times. In the picture Mina was sitting on the hood of his blue truck and he was in front of her, with her arm draped over his shoulders and their heads close together. They had been so in love, he still was and maybe she was too.
It was his favorite picture of them and had sat on his bedside table since they had split up.
/
The way they had gotten together was not traditional at all but it didn't matter, and it was all Merles doing. Naturally, his brother had known just what he needed; it had taken so much planning but it would be worth it. He wanted the old Daryl back, not this shell that existed before he met Mina. It had gone on long enough in Merle opinion, and it was ending tonight, no matter what he had to do.
At the age of 21, his brother Daryl got his first broken heart and Merle was not having this new Daryl, not one bit. His once outgoing and fun to be with brother had been replaced by a mopy, sullen sad sack, all because of Jennifer.
That girl had done a number on him and it didn't look like he was ever going to come back from it.
Once his brother used to help work on cars or their bikes, he used to joke and even talk but he had lost all interest in everything. All because of a woman and not the right woman anyway in Merle's opinion. He had plenty of time for girls and serious relationships; hell Merle was in his early thirties and still hadn't settled down.
There was only one cure for what was ailing his little brother and when Daryl pulled up that night after work Merle told him to shower and be ready for a night on the town. Daryl flipped him off as he walked by but he did what he was told.
Merle always took him out for his birthday and tonight he was legal to drink. The alcohol was going to flow that night until Daryl couldn't remember that bitch's name.
An hour later Dary was bitching because Merle had pulled up at a strip club. There was no talking Merle out of it, he was bound and determined to get his brother drunk and laid for his 21st.
/
Daryl immediately hated the place, the music was too loud, and it was Pitbull, which was not his favorite type of music so he was already in a bad mood. There were two beautiful women on the stage but he could care less. He was still so fucked up over Jenny, and it had been six months. Happy Fucking Birthday.
*******Put it on my life, baby
I make you feel right, baby
Can't promise tomorrow
But, I promise tonight, dale
Excuse me, excuse me
And I might drink a little more than I should tonight
And I might take you home with me if I could tonight
And, baby, I'ma make you feel so good, tonight
'Cause we might not get tomorrow.*******
Merle was in his element as he ordered them two beers and the bartender carded Daryl, then wished him a happy birthday. They both turned and leaned against the bar to watch, Merle was enthralled with the dancers, who were both blonde and gorgeous. But there was the apathetic look on Daryl's face and he had expected as much.
However, Merle had planned for that, he was a regular at this place and ate lunch there often, and he had a trick or two up his sleeve that Daryl didn't know about.
/
After almost an hour the rowdy club music was replaced with something slower as the lights went down. Daryl and Merle both turned as Pony by Ginuwine came on and when the lights came back on there was one woman on the stage. She was dressed in a cream-colored camisole and matching shorts. It was pretty lingerie for sure, and against her tan skin and dark hair, she was a looker. On her head she wore a hat, but took it off to reveal a head of gorgeous curly auburn hair.
Daryl did like dark haired girls and Merle knew that.
A slow smile crossed Merle lips as he watched his brother set his third beer down on the bar and fixed his eyes on the stage. So he wasn't dead after all, this was good.