Out of the Woods (The Walking Dead)
When the Dead Come Knocking:
"They all left, left us there." Merle said, "Just left us there to suffer and die."
"I'm sure they had their reasons." Suzy replied, "We were all panicking and scared."
"Bullshit." Merle grimaced, "They didn't even bother coming back for us. Hope they're happy with themselves for that."
"We don't know if they did, they could've been planning to come back for us-"
"Maybe for you. They could give less of a shit about me."
"What about Daryl? He wouldn't have let that happen."
"Probably told him we was already dead."
"Yeah. Maybe they did." Suzy nodded, "But we can't know that for sure and we'll never know. It's not like we're gonna see any of them ever again."
To her surprise, Merle started laughing.
"Good riddance."
Merle looked at Glenn taped in the chair, doing the same thing the girl did; stare ahead and not acknowledging him. He thought of his plan while he glared at the kid.
"It didn't have to be like this," Merle said, standing across the room by the door, "All ya had to do was tell me where my brother was. Now here we are, playin' games back and forth."
Glenn continued looking ahead at the wall with his head high. He didn't even flinch when Merle dragged his blade across the table.
"You don't even know why you're here, do you?" Merle said. You're here to help me, "I didn't mean you no harm. I lowered my gun, but you raised yours."
Glenn didn't reply, only making him angrier. It didn't have to be this way. All they had to do was bring him to Daryl so everything could get sorted out. They didn't trust him, they didn't want to listen, and they sure as hell didn't like him. All this time and nothing's changed.
"You were an asshole out there," Merle spat, "Just like you were on that rooftop back there in Atlanta. What y'all did, leaving us up there. People wouldn't do that to an animal."
Saying that made Glenn finally glance up at him and say, "We went back for you. Both of you."
"Ain't you thoughtful," Merle nearly laughed, not sure if he believed it. If it were to happen again, he had no doubt they would make the same choice as they did then.
"We did, all of us." Glenn insisted, "Rick, Daryl, T-Dog."
"Mm, T-Dog. Yeah, big ol' spear-chucker, the one me and Suzy started pleadin' with." Merle circled him," Mhm, the one who dropped the key and left Suzy lyin' on the ground to die. Tell me where he's at. I'm sure T-Dog would like to bury the hatchet, let bygones be bygones?"
Glenn's face frowned like he was recalling something. He sighed, "He didn't make it."
Merle glared into his eyes, "Well I hope he went slow."
Glenn fought to respond to that.
"How 'bout the rest? Hmm? How 'bout my baby brother?" Merle asked, taking a seat on the table, "You can't tell me he's alive and then hold off on where he is."
Glenn continued to keep his mouth shut and looked away from him. You're only making this harder on yourself, boy...
"No?" Merle then smiled, "Or maybe the farmer's daughter will help me out."
Glenn glanced at him then looked away again, still refusing to say a word. He would never actually do anything to the girl. He just had to make it seem like he would. Anything to piss him off.
"Tell me somethin'-" Merle whispered, Suzy coming to his mind as he dragged his blade all over Glenn's face and neck, "When she's scared, and she's holding you close, and her tremblin' skin is close to you. Her soft lips are touchin' you. Here, all over here...Feels good, don't it?"
Merle then put his blade to Glenn's chin and smirked while looking him in his eye.
"I remember you," He said, Glenn looking back at him, "Yeah. You're the sneaky one, the one with nerve. You don't scare easy, do you? I like that."
It only meant Glenn wouldn't go down without a fight. They couldn't hide Daryl forever. If he wasn't going to talk doing things the nice way, then was about to put on one hell of a show for the Governor. It's what he would want him to do.
"Now-" Merle got behind Glenn and put his blade across his mouth, "I wanna know where my brother is."
Glenn groaned in pain as he pushed it against him. It was only a warning, a warning he didn't comprehend. He quickly let go and went back in front of him.
"I wanna know where the sheriff is-" Saying that made Glenn break and head-butt him right in the face. It broke open the cut on Merle's nose, immediately drawing blood. Merle laughed, happy Glenn was finally playing along. He head-butt him right back even harder. Before Glenn could recover, he clocked him right in the jaw just hard enough to hurt.
"Yeah!" Merle hit him again, "Now I wanna know where y'all hiding, where your camp is, and I wanna know now."
Merle hit him again in his eye, then his mouth, then his jaw once again. He made sure he was careful enough not to break anything. Only enough to make the Governor happy.
"I wanna know now!" Merle continued hitting him, "Where the hell are they! Tell me!"
Since there was still at least another hour of daylight left, Suzy grabbed another protein bar and left the apartment. She looked around, seeing Merle was nowhere to be found. What was he doing that was so important he came to check in just to leave? Martinez was back over at the main wall, Haley already having been relieved for the day.
"Hey, Martinez?" She called up from below. She could see his expression brighten just from the sight of her.
"What's up?" He asked, holding his machine gun on his shoulder.
"Have you seen Merle around?" That question made Martinez shift uncomfortably where he stood.
"Nah," He said casually like he wasn't phased at all.
"Are you sure?" She asked, noticing how he had reacted.
"Listen," He said, crouching down to get a bit closer to her, "You should head on home. Curfew's gettin' close."
"I tried that already." She replied, "Is there something going on I should know about? Is it about what happened on the run today?"
Martinez sighed and took the ladder down from the wall. Once he was at her level, he lowered his gun to his side and held her shoulder with his other hand.
"If somethin' was going on that was for you to know about, you would know by now."
Suzy scoffed, "Are you telling me it's none of my business?"
"Come on," He pulled her gently to walk with him, "I'll walk you home."
"Okay. You don't have to tell me where he is, but can you at least tell me what it is he's doing?"
Martinez stopped and put his arm around her, "When it's done, he'll tell you himself. You trust me on that?"
Suzy nodded, "I guess."
"Good," Martinez removed his arm and patted her shoulder, "I'll keep ya company 'till he gets back. Deal?"
"Sure."
"Cool." He smiled, "Let's go, I'll get you a beer."
Merle continued beating Glenn until he was literally coughing up blood. He was impressed when he didn't scream or cry or say anything really.
"Yeah!" Merle punched him again in his already blackened eye to the point where it was swollen shut, "And you remember! I'm the one you tell! Me! No one else! Ya hear?"
Merle punched him in between almost every word he said. He decided to give him a break and sat on the table to rest up his knuckles. It gave Glenn a minute to catch his breath and spit out all the thick blood pooling in his mouth. He could've sworn he was close to knocking out his teeth, but thankfully that didn't happen.
"Where's-" Glenn muttered, his words blurring together from all the blood he coughed up, "Where's Suzy? What've you done with her?"
"She's right as rain," Merle laughed, "What you think I got her locked up somewhere in here with y'all? That's what you think of me? You think I'd do somethin' to her?"
Glenn spit out more blood, making a puddle between his feet, "Wouldn't put it past you."
"She don't know shit." Merle said sternly, "And I plan on keepin' it that way. But I gotta hand it to ya. You're a lot tougher than I remember." Merle said, "No surprise you lasted this long. Shit, I figured the way Officer Friendly abandoned people, he would've left you behind by now. But he didn't do that, did he? So tell me, where y'all been at?"
Glenn caught his breath and looked up at him, "It's just a matter of time before they come looking."
I'm countin' on it, boy, "I'll bake a cake with pink frosting. Would they like that?" He laughed, "Ain't nobody comin'."
"Rick is," Glenn replied, "And when he gets here-"
"He's gonna do nothin'." Merle interrupted him, egging him on, "Not if he wants you and Bo Peep back."
Time to warn him, Merle continued, "Think I'm in this by myself?"
"You can't take us all," Glenn said, making Merle laugh. He knew he was lying, trying to seem all big and tough, "There's too many of us."
It didn't matter how many there were. Woodbury would always have more.
"There ain't a pair of nuts between the whole pussy lot of ya."
"We've been on the road. Not hiding in some dungeon. Rick, Shane, Dale, Jim, Andrea."
Merle smirked hearing Glenn say Andrea's name. He also remembered when Andrea told him and Suzy this Dale and Jim had died. But he wasn't going to tell him that.
"Really," Merle said amused, making Glenn uneasy. "Is that right?"
Glenn didn't reply, making Merle smirk.
"All right. That's the game we're playin'? Okay," Merle stood from the table and went to the door, "Wait here."
Not like Glenn could go anywhere anyway, so he chuckled to himself as he left the room. He decided to do something else. Something worse. Something that should guarantee he talk. He grabbed one of the reach extenders and headed out the back gate. It didn't take him long to find one. He whistled to get its attention, making the biter turn around. It growled and walked in a zig-zag fashion towards him. He used the reach extender to clasp around its throat so he could get it inside.
"What are you doing?" Warren asked on top of the back gate, "I'm not letting that thing in here."
"Don't you mind what I'm doin-" Merle yelled back at him, "Now open the damn gate if you know what's good for ya."
Warren did as he was told and opened the back gate for him to get inside. He made his way through the red door and through the passageways down to Glenn's room.
"All righty-" He announced, coming back in with the biter growling and chomping its teeth, "I want you to imagine how I felt, how we felt, fightin' our way off that roof. Me with one hand, both losing blood, walkers chomping down at us every step of the way."
He let the biter get close enough to where its hands almost got Glenn's face. He pulled it back so it wouldn't touch him.
"Last chance!" Merle shouted, "Where's your group?"
Glenn stayed silent once again, making Merle groan.
"Fine-" He said, "Suit yourself!"
Glenn said they lived on the road. This wasn't anything he wasn't used to. He could handle it. Plus, the Governor would love it. Perfect payback.
"You're a pretty big snack for this fella," Merle said, backing up to the door so he could get out quickly and give Glenn a head start, "But you know what they say, he's gonna be hungry again in an hour!"
Merle then unclipped the extender, letting the biter lose.
"Go!" Merle shouted at him then shut the door, "Run, boy!"
Martinez sat with Suzy on one of the benches outside, both of them with beers in hand. She wasn't stupid, she knew he was hiding something. This was purely a means to distract her. She went with it though since it was obvious Martinez wasn't going to be the one who tells her shit. He told her things like how the Governor was going to give her night watch shifts back and can start going on runs again. She wasn't sure if he was just saying that to keep conversation or if it was actually true. She doubted the Governor would suddenly be so generous, unless they figured she's been punished enough.
"Martinez-" Speak of the devil, there was the Governor approaching with a determined look. He didn't seem happy. Martinez quickly stood.
"What is it?" Martinez asked. The Governor glanced at Suzy then gestured for Martinez to follow him. She thought about asking what was going on once again, but decided it was probably best not to irritate the Governor further.
Once they were enough distance away, she decided to follow them to see where they were going. They went all the way to the back of Woodbury near the rear wall. They went through a red door and shut it behind them. She debated whether or not she should go in. She had never been in that building before. She didn't even think it was one they were using at all. They had some things in there for storage, but nothing else. She heard the back door to the building open. She snuck her way through, staying far enough behind so they wouldn't see her. They were talking, the Governor looked pissed. He paced around with his hands on his hips while Martinez shook his head and kept his arms crossed over his chest. Merle came out the back door and joined them, sharing the same stressed out look. The Governor calmed himself and leaned up against a car casually as the three continued talking. She could only catch small bits and pieces of their conversation from being so far away. She couldn't risk getting closer without them seeing her. She didn't want to know what would happen if they caught her.
"So, they know Andrea." Governor nodded.
"But they don't know she's here." Merle said.
"But they do know your brother."
"He does," Merle replied, "But I don't know about her. I've never seen her before. Which means Suzy doesn't know her either."
"Do they know she's here too?" Martinez asked.
"He does, since he knows she left Atlanta with me." Merle replied, "But he also knows she don't know they're here."
"Their people may come for 'em." Governor said. I'm still countin' on it...
"Maybe." Merle nodded casually, "The kid and Andrea both say they went back for us."
That was a consistency in both their stories at least. He hoped it would be enough to convince the Governor they weren't bad people necessarily. It didn't phase him, unfortunately. Suzy only caught her name being mentioned and something about how she doesn't know who someone was or what they were doing here. Someone is being held here? Why? Not being able to catch anything else, she decided to leave before they caught her.
"So what? He won't break, say where his people are?"
"He's a tough son of a bitch," Martinez said, recalling when he walked in to find the dead biter on the floor, "Picked that walker apart in minutes."
I was counting on that, too, "Maybe a winter in the sticks put some hair on his balls." Merle replied. It was just like Glenn said; they've been on the road. He knew what he was doing.
"We'll need him for leverage if his people come," Martinez glared at him, "What'd'you try to kill him for?"
"He pissed me off," Merle said, glaring back. He pissed him off for the sole reason of not talking. Now things were only getting more complicated because the little asshole was being stubborn as a mule.
"What's the girl say?" Governor asked.
"I was just about to go talk to her next," Merle said and he was serious when he meant actually just talking to her. The Governor nodded.
"I'll take care of it," He said, immediately walking off with Martinez. Merle sighed, knowing what that meant. He remembered what he did to Suzy when she tried running away. Well, not actually since she never told him what he did. He only knew it was bad. This was exactly what he didn't want to happen. He didn't want the Governor getting involved, especially with the girl. Especially when he knew how the Governor would react when he would see how she was the same type as Suzy...
"God fuckin' damn it-" Merle groaned, punching the nearest car.
There wasn't anything he could do about it. What if it was enough to get her to tell? The last thing he wanted was the Governor finding out where his brother was at. He finds out, he'll kill him... They all agreed little Officer Friendly and Company would be on the way soon looking those two. He was still counting on it. What if Daryl came with them? Then they could make their escape. He had to trust Daryl would come for them. He was the sweet one after all. If anyone would come back it would be his baby brother.
Merle decided to go down there and wait with Martinez outside the door where Maggie was held. It was uncomfortably silent for a while. He didn't mean for it to go this far. Then there was Suzy's voice again. Maybe it would've helped if you thought things through for once, asshole...
"You think she'll talk?" Martinez asked, leaning against the wall with his machine gun in his hand.
She better not, "Maybe."
"You realize she's got the same name as Suzy's little niece?" Martinez scoffed, "Crazy, right?"
"Yeah," Merle nodded, "The dead one."
"Right, that one." Martinez shook his head, "And look, I don't really agree with all his methods, you know. But if it's what gets shit done, I'm not gonna complain."
"Mm," Merle nodded again, not knowing what else to say to that. He couldn't tell a lie good enough when it came to that shit. He would get called out immediately.
The door opening made the two stand their ground. The Governor appeared, holding Maggie by her arm. They noticed how she was completely topless with her eyes wet with tears. She was shaking like a leaf with her bottom lip quivering. Merle frowned at the sight, taking any inch of self-control he had to not stab the Governor in his throat right there.
"Go on," The Governor gestured for the two to open Glenn's door.
Shit... Merle did as he said and opened it, Glenn immediately lifting a leg from the broken chair he was in before. Merle shook his head, making him lower it. There wasn't anything he could say to make it better. He looked Glenn in the eye with the most apologetic look he could. Nothin' I suck at more than apologies...But I am so sorry, boy...
The Governor pulled Maggie in by her arm roughly. He pulled out his silver pistol and pointed it at Glenn. Merle frowned, not knowing what else he could do. This was purely one hundred percent his fault. He regretted bringing them here, especially now that the Governor was here pulling his shit. None of this was supposed to happen. Glenn seeing Maggie like that made him lift the chair leg to go bash the Governor's brains in, but Martinez lifted his machine gun and pointed it at him, demanding he drop it. Glenn regretfully obliged and did so, dropping it on the floor.
"We're through with games," The Governor growled, "Now, one of you is gonna give up your camp."
When neither of them spoke up, the Governor pulled the hammer back on his pistol and pointed it right at Maggie's head. Merle kept his eye contact with Glenn with determination. As subtly as he could, he shook his head as a way to tell Glenn to do what he has been doing, which was keep his mouth shut. Don't do it, boy, he pleaded in his mind, don't tell this mother fucker...
Glenn gladly did so when the Governor then charged at him and pointed the gun at his head. If anything, he put his head closer to the barrel to prove he was willing to die before talking. Before Merle could give the same signal to Maggie, she already broke down, not being able to take seeing Glenn with a gun to his head.
"The prison..." Maggie spoke up. Shit.
"The one near Nunez?" Merle asked.
"That place was overrun." Martinez gasped, still pointing his machine gun at her.
"We took it." Maggie muttered. When she had tried stepping closer, Merle put his arm out to stop her gently.
"How many are you?" Governor asked, not lowering his gun.
"Ten..." Maggie cried, "We're ten now."
"Ten people-" Governor said in disbelief, "Cleared that whole prison of biters? Huh?"
Merle looked at Maggie with an apologetic look, but also a disappointed one. What did I say? You didn't listen... Daryl was one of those ten people. And now the Governor knows. Merle turned to the Governor, ready to tell him to drop the gun since they talked. However, the Governor already did so and stormed to the door. He glared at Glenn and decided to piss him off even further. He cooed Maggie gently, hugging her close and kissing her head. Everyone could see her crying, his touch frightening her, making her feel disgusted. Martinez didn't even know what to say to that other than he was uncomfortable. The Governor then tossed her back over to Glenn so he could comfort her then he left the room, Martinez slowly following. Defeated, Merle gave another look of "I'm sorry" then left the room himself, shutting them inside together to have a moment to themselves.
The three went back to the Governor's apartment, tagging Milton along and updated him on what was going on. Was the girl telling the truth, or was she lying to save Glenn? Her words seemed truthful, but how likely was it that only ten people could do something that impossible?
"Ten people-" Governor paced his floor back and forth, trying to wrap his head around it.
"That's deep in the red zone." Milton said, "There's no way only ten-"
"So she's lyin'?" Governor snapped at him, "'Cause if she's lying, that means a pretty size-able force has moved into our backyard. But if she's not-"
The Governor then turned to Merle at glared with a dark look in his eyes, "This group with your brother at its core has done something you told me couldn't be done. They did it. And those same people are the one's that are gonna be comin' here for those two. Your brother might be out there right now, searching for them. Blood is blood, right? Makes me wonder where your loyalties lie. So tell me, Merle. Where do your loyalties lie? Here? Or with your brother?"
Merle could feel a slight ping of anxiety in his chest. That wasn't something he felt often. He knew his brother enough to know that he one-hundred percent was out there looking for those kids. And they were either going to be taken quietly, or it was going to be guns a-blazing.
"Here," Merle replied, trying to sound as convincing as possible. He didn't even believe himself when he said that. It was good enough for the Governor though, since he patted his shoulder with confidence.
"You two get a small group and scout this prison," He commanded to him and Martinez, "I want to know exactly what we're dealing with."
"Yeah," Martinez put his hat on backwards as he usually did, "You got it."
Milton left the tense room as quickly as he could, Martinez left to see who he could gather up, and Merle didn't move. He stood there a moment, thinking about what he should do. There wasn't much time left. He had to do something. He sighed and left the apartment, knowing Andrea would be showing back up there soon. He went back to his own apartment, thinking of what he was going to tell Suzy. When he opened their door, he nearly jumped at the sight of her already standing there in an upright stance with her arms crossed in front of her chest. He gave a nod and shut the door, knowing she was about to confront him.
"What's going on?" She immediately asked, sternness in her voice. He only rubbed his head nervously, still thinking of what he was going to tell her. "You can lie to anyone else, but you can't lie to me. You suck at it."
"Yeah," Merle nodded, "I know."
"You've been looking guilty about something all day. And now," She gestured to his current state, "You look like you're ready to pass out. I'm not stupid. I know there's something going on that you're not telling me. I wanna know."
He didn't say anything. He stood there with his hand and prosthetic on his hips, trying to get his thoughts in order. Suzy decided to soften her tone at the sight of how stressed he looked. She got closer and put her arms around him. She placed her head on his chest for comfort.
"It's okay, Merle." She said in a softer voice, "You can tell me anything. You've always been able to before."
"Do you trust me?" Merle asked, carefully putting his arms around her and placing his chin on her head.
"What?" She asked, confused.
"Do you trust me?" He repeated, "Can you trust that I'm doin' what I gotta do?"
"Of course," She raised her head to look at his beautiful blue eyes. He looked into her gray ones. They were nearly silver in this low light, he noticed. If it were brighter, they had a more blueish hue behind them.
"Then you gotta trust that I'm doin' what I gotta do for us to get outta here." He said, "I need you to do that."
She nodded even though her expression was still obviously confused. She decided to take him at his word, even though deep down she knew there was still something going on he wasn't telling her. It didn't matter. She had to assume it was because he was only trying to keep her safe. By keeping her separate from all of it, it was safer for her. She couldn't know too much.
"Pack your shit." He suddenly said, removing her arms from around him.
"What?" She asked, watching him go across the room to grab her small black backpack.
"Take what ya need to and be ready to go when I say," He said, "We're leavin' by the mornin'."
Suzy didn't know what to say to that. She grabbed the bag when he tossed it to her. She repeated his words over and over again in her head. He said they were leaving. Was he serious? What was happening? Did even matter if it was true that they were finally getting out of this place? She clutched the bag in her hands and nodded in understanding. As she packed up whatever she wanted to take with her, she did her best to calm the excitement threatening to burst out of her. She couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief and a full smile while she packed. She didn't know what he did to get this to finally happen, but she didn't care.
Their time in Woodbury was up…