Merle walked down the stairs as he walked toward the barn and he frowned.
In the week since he arrived at the farm, he had been able to help with some of the chores, but the barn kept attracting his attention.
He had heard the growls and groaning and a cold chill moved through him whenever he walked by the barn.
"Merle," made him turn around as Rick walked closer and Merle tilted his head to one side.
"You need me fer somethin'?" Merle asked.
"I was just wondering what you were doing."
"Just lookin'. You sure we shouldn't just kill 'em?"
"Like I told you, it's Hershel's decision."
Nodding, Merle walked toward the stable while Rick looked at the barn and Rick noticed something on the ground. Rick cautiously walked to the barn as he looked down and he saw pieces of wood on the ground. He knelt down as he picked up the small piece of wood and he saw the wood was painted the same color as the barn. He stood up, looking at the wall, and he blinked his eyes a few times. He slowly moved closer when he saw the holes in the wood then he jumped when fingers slid out through the holes.
"Shit!" Rick whispered while Daryl walked closer and Daryl looked at the fingers moving in the holes.
"Are you kiddin' me!?" Daryl grumbled.
"Looks like we're going to need more wood."
"Yeah."
A low growling came from the barn and more chips of wood fell to the ground. Rick looked at Daryl when Daryl nodded and they ran for the camp.
The stable
Merle walked inside the stable as he walked to stall and he looked at Nelly. The horse snorted a breath of air. Merle arched an eyebrow while Carol walked to him and Merle turned to look at her.
"Don't," Carol warned.
"Don't what?" Merle asked.
"Don't you dare hurt Nelly. What happened to Daryl wasn't her fault."
"I wasn't gonna hurt her. Just wanna show her who's boss."
"Leave her alone."
Merle rolled his eyes when Nelly nudged his left shoulder and he looked at the horse.
"What do you want?" he asked and Nelly whickered.
"I think she's hungry," Carol said. He watched her head for the feed box when she opened the lid, removed two carrots, closed the lid then she walked to Merle. "Here."
"What am I supposed to do with that?"
"Feed her."
Merle took one of the carrots when he noticed the look in the horse's eyes and he smiled. He held onto the end of the carrot as Nellie started eating and a part of him wanted to pat her. Looking down at his right arm, Merle frowned and he snorted a breath of air.
"Damn," he grumbled.
"What's wrong?" Carol asked.
"It's nothin'."
"Your brother says that. Then he tells me what's wrong."
"I ain't Daryl."
"Doesn't mean you can't talk to me."
"Now I get why he likes you so much. You're pushy," he teased and she smiled. "I… I wanted to pet her, but didn't wanna hurt her with this."
Merle held up the machete and Carol nodded.
"Mom!" Sophia called out and Merle tossed the carrots into the stale. She ran to them and Carol noticed the worry in her daughter's eyes.
"What's wrong?!" Carol asked.
"Dad… Sheriff Rick… They want everyone back at camp…"
Carol took hold of her right hand as she looked at Merle and he nodded. They ran out of the barn while they ran toward the camp and Merle glanced at the barn. He felt the cold chill move through him again and he ran faster. They arrived at the camp as Rick watched Carol and Sophia head for Daryl and Daryl had Henry in his arms.
"What's goin' on?" Merle asked, walking to Rick.
"It appears we have a problem," Rick said then he explained about finding holes in the wall of the barn.
"What do you want us to do?" Dale asked, looking at the barn.
"We might need to go back to the lumberyard and get more wood."
"That might not be a good idea," Merle said.
"Who asked you?" Glenn asked.
"Why can't we go back to the lumberyard?" Andrea asked.
"If any of my gang survived, they'd go there. A lot of places to hide," Merle said.
"Think we need to tell Hershel," Daryl said, rocking Henry.
"I told Maggie to go get him," Glenn said.
Hershel, Beth, Maggie, Otis, Patricia and Jimmy walked closer and Rick saw the hurt and sorrow in Hershel's eyes.
"Is it true? Are they trying to break out of the barn?" Hershel asked.
"Yes. There are holes in the wall near the door. Looks like they have been picking at the wall for some time," Rick explained and Hershel sighed.
"Should we evacuate the children?" Patricia asked.
"That does sound like a good idea. Lori, Maggie and Carol could go with them."
"Where should we go?" Carol asked, holding onto Sophia.
"I could take them to that smaller farm we found down the road," Dale said, looking at the RV.
"I wanna stay here with you, Dad," Carl said.
"I know you do," Rick said as he walked to Carl then Rick knelt down on his haunches. "But I need you to look after your mom and Judith."
"An' I need you to help Mom an' Maggie with Little Hershel an' Henry," Daryl said, looking at Sophia.
"Ok, Daddy," Sophia said and Carol gave her a small hug.
"Now that we got that settled…," Rick said as a loud cracking sound filled the air and Rick stood up. Rick, Merle and Daryl ran to the barn and they saw a large hole in the wall. Two Walkers were trying to squeeze through the hole as they growled and they clawed at each other.
"Shit," Daryl said. He looked around for something to use as a weapon when Jimmy ran to him and Jimmy had Daryl's crossbow in his hands. "Thanks."
Daryl took the crossbow as he aimed the crossbow and the Walkers growled. He folded his right index finger over the trigger when he fired the crossbow and the crossbow bolt hit the male Walker in the head. The other Walker pulled the male Walker inside the barn as Rick slowly walked closer to the hole and he looked inside the barn. His stomach churned at the sight of the Walkers eating and he backed up.
"Still think we should wait fer Hershel to decide what to do with 'em?" Merle whispered after he walked to Rick.
"Merle…," Daryl warned.
They walked back to the others while Rick tried to figure what to do next and he saw Hershel looking at him.
"The hole's bigger," Rick said with a sigh.
"Did any of the Walkers get out?" Dale asked.
"Almost," Daryl said, walking to his family.
"This is all my fault," Hershel mumbled.
Merle opened his mouth to say something then he closed his mouth after the cold stare Daryl gave him.
"Hershel…," Rick said as he walked to Hershel and Rick sighed. "What do you want us to do?"
Hershel looked at everyone gathered around him when he looked at Beth, Maggie, Glenn, Little Hershel, Judith and Henry and he lowered his head.
"I wish to discuss this with my family," Hershel said.
They watched Hershel, Maggie, Beth and Glenn walk away after Maggie gave Little Hershel to Rick and they headed for the farmhouse. They went up the stairs then went inside and Hershel closed the screen door. They went into the living room as Hershel walked to the window, looked out at the farm and his eyes drifted over to the barn. The silence was thick and defending until he turned and he looked at them.
"First of all, I need to know something," Hershel said then he paused as he looked at his daughters. "Do either of you hate me?"
Maggie and Beth looked at each other for a few seconds. He smiled sadly as his daughters walked to him, hugged him and they placed their heads against his head. They moved back as he nodded and he placed his hands in front of him.
"Second, you all know I have regrets for what I did to your mother…," he said as he looked at Beth. "To your brother. To the others."
"You were only trying to help," Glenn said and Hershel nodded.
"Well, if I couldn't save them, I will be damned if I can't save the rest of my family," Hershel said as he glanced toward the window. "And that includes those people out there."
"What should we do, Daddy?" Beth asked. She watched Hershel have a silent conversation with himself as he sighed and he lowered his head.
"We need to kill them."
"How do we do that?" Maggie asked.
"We could open the doors and let them out. Then it's just a matter of shooting them." Glenn said.
"There is a chance some of them might get away," Hershel said.
"And you don't want to be responsible for them killing someone else," Beth said with a nod.
"No, I don't want that responsibility."
"If we use the hayloft to shoot down at them or use the hole to shoot them, we might not get everyone," Maggie said.
"Not unless we make more holes in the walls," Glenn said.
"Which will give them chances to escape."
"And they can grab whoever gets close to the holes," Beth said.
"Then we are in agreement?" Hershel asked, looking at them.
"Yes," they said and they headed for the door. Hershel opened the door and they left the farmhouse. Going down the stairs, they headed for the barn and Rick watched them walking closer.
"Have you decided what we're going to do with the Walkers?" Rick asked.
Before Hershel could answer, the sound of engines filled the air and they turned to see several trucks headed by the gate.
"Aw shit," Merle grumbled.
The trucks came to a stop when several men hopped out of the back of the trucks and the men pointed their weapons at them.
Carol, Maggie and Lori held tightly onto the babies as they moved back toward the RV with Carl and Sophia behind them and Merle saw the fear in their eyes. Snorting a breath of air, Merle glared at the men when his face softened and he grinned.
"Well, took you long enough," Merle said. Rick and Daryl glared at him as he turned and he gave them a reassuring wink.
"Took us some time to regroup after you abandoned us," one of the men growled.
"All a part of the plan."
"What plan?!"
"Didn't you know?! Young Randall told me about this place. Said there was some really good shit here," Merle said as he glanced at Hershel. Hershel saw a look in Merle's eyes as Hershel kept a blank look on his face then Merle turned back to the men.
"Where is this cool shit?" the man asked.
"Right over there."
The men looked at the barn as Merle walked to Rick and Rick arched an eyebrow.
"Are you really going to let them do this?" Rick whispered.
"It's either this or they'll kill us," Merle whispered.
Rick knew what Merle had in mind was wrong as he looked at the others, looked at Carl, Sophia, Little Hershel and Judith then he sighed. Rick nodded his head toward the RV and Lori quietly opened the door. Lori, Maggie and Carol led Carl and Sophia inside then Lori closed the door and Rick watched Merle walking toward the men.
"How come the door's sealed?" the man asked.
"Why do you think, Dummy?" Merle asked, rolling his eyes. "Now, get yer asses in gear an' let's go."
Merle led the way when he noticed the hole in the wall was bigger and a male Walker squeeze out of the hole.
"Oh shit!" one of the men said.
"Hold yer ground!" Merle said, holding up the machete.
One by one, the Walkers exited the barn while the men aimed their weapons and Rick glanced at Daryl. Daryl nodded his head as he, Rick and the others headed for the barn and Beth held onto Hershel.
The Walkers headed for Merle and his men as Merle and his men opened fired and Rick and the others armed themselves. More Walkers exited the barn when Beth saw her mother and her eyes widened.
"Mama!" Beth called out and Hershel held onto her. He noticed the Walker who was once his wife seemed to recognize Beth's voice as the Walker headed toward them, but stopped when Glenn fired the gun. The front of the Walker's head exploded as the body fell and Glenn gave Hershel a sad look. Hershel barely nodded his head and Glenn turned, shooting another Walker.
"You son of a bitch! You set us up!" one of the men shouted, pointing his gun at Merle.
"Yeah, I did," Merle said with a smug look, shooting a female Walker heading toward him. He flinched slightly as the sound of gunfire filled his ears then he saw the man fall to the ground. Merle blinked his eyes a few times when he saw Rick standing there and their eyes locked. "Duck."
Rick ducked as Merle fired the gun and the back of the male Walker's head exploded. Rick stood as the body fell and Merle walked to Rick. They stood back-to-back as they fired the guns and Daryl glanced at them before shooting a male Walker in the head. A small grin moved over his face and Daryl reloaded the crossbow.
In the RV, Carol held Henry in her arms as the babies cried and she hushed Henry while rocking him.
"Carol," made her turn and Lori walked closer. Carol noticed the worried look on her face and Lori leaned against the counter.
"What's wrong?" Carol asked.
"Have you seen Carl?"
"No. Isn't he in the back?"
"No. And neither is Sophia."
Carol felt her stomach drop when she heard something on the roof and she looked up. She handed Henry to Lori then Carol carefully exited the RV and she headed for the ladder. Carol climbed up the ladder when she stood on the roof and she saw Carl and Sophia lying on their stomachs. Two rifles were next to them as Carol went on her hands and knew and crawled to them.
"What are you two doing?!" she whispered.
"We were going to shoot the Walkers," Carl explained.
"Do you know how to fire a rifle?"
"I can fire a gun."
"That is not what I asked. Don't you remember what happened when Andrea accidentally shot Daryl?"
"Mom said she might have shot Shane, Glenn, T-Dog or… Or Dad."
"Exactly. Now, get your asses down that ladder and go back inside," she said with a stern tone. She watched them crawl across the roof of the RV then go down the ladder and go inside. Carol looked over at the rifle when she picked up the rifle, went onto her stomach and she looked through the scope after holding the rifle in her hands. She took aim as she looked at the Walkers, but she lingered for a few seconds as she looked at Merle through the scope.
"Do it," a voice in her head said. She watched Merle fighting next to Rick then next to Daryl and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She wiped the tears away as she frowned and she looked through the scope again.
"Is that the last of 'em?" Merle asked. He looked at the bodies lying on the ground and one or two of them were from his group. He had to put them down after they were bit and blood dripped from the machete.
"I think so," Daryl said, pulling the crossbow bolt out of the head of a male Walker.
"Look!" T-Dog said.
They looked at the barn when they heard the gurgling sound and something shuffled toward the hole. They stood stone still while Randall staggered out of the barn and his eyes squinted from the sunlight.
"Damn," Rick whispered as he looked at the torn skin, the internal organs seeping out of the wounds on Randall's chest and stomach and two fingers of Randall's left hand were missing.
Randall stumbled over the bodies of the ground when he looked toward Rick and Rick pointed the Python at him. Something in Randall recognized him as Randall moved toward him and a low growl filled the air. Before Randall got to Rick, the sound of rifle fire filled the air and the back of Randall's head exploded. He took two staggering steps before his body fell to the ground and Rick and Merle turned to look at where the sound of the gunfire came from.
"Well, ain't that somethin'," Merle whispered when he saw Carol standing on the top of the RV with the rifle in her hands and he grinned.
Later that day
The bodies were dragged into a large pile in one of the paddocks and Glenn, T-Dog and Daryl set the bodies on fire.
Two graves were made besides Shane's grave and Maggie, Beth, Carol, Lori and Patricia had wrapped Beth's mother and the step-brother in fresh linen.
Hershel, Rick and Merle talked with the men about either staying at the farm or leaving and the men decided to leave.
After the funeral, Daryl and Merle saw Beth sitting on the porch stairs as they walked to her and she looked up at them.
"Mind if we sit?" Merle asked.
Beth glanced at Daryl then she nodded. Daryl sat on her right and Merle sat on her left. They sat in silence for a while when Merle sighed and he shook his head.
"How you feelin'?" Daryl asked.
"I'm not sure. I get that wasn't really my mom. That what made her her is gone. But… To see her like that… To see both of them like that… It was horrifying," Beth said while blinking the tears out of her eyes.
"Know what you mean. Our mother? She died in a fire," Merle said.
"She did?!"
"The….," he said then paused from the cold look Daryl gave him. "She was smokin' in bed, fell asleep and set th'bed on fire."
"Oh."
"I remember when they brought her body outta th'house. Our old man… He wanted to see her one last time. I was standin' with him when they opened th'body bag. I just looked at what was left an' I didn't feel anythin'. Know why? Because our old man told us not to cry or feel anythin'. That what I was lookin at was nothin', but a burnt piece of shit. She was gone an' that was that."
Beth cringed as Daryl moved closer and he gently slid his left arm around her shoulders.
"That's horrible," Beth said, softly.
"That's how it was with him. Now, with you, I bet yer mom is lookin' down on you an' wouldn't mind a few tears. But she also might not want you to give up. Yeah, this world' gone to shit, but you're here. Not just fer yer dad an' sis, but because you got what it takes. You're a survivor."
"I'm nothing like Maggie or the others."
"And who says you have to be? Just be you," he said and he lightly poked her in the nose with his left index finger.
Daryl knew he wanted to ask why Merle never said those things to him, but he also knew Merle was just trying to keep Beth from falling into the dark pit he almost fell into before he met Carol and the others.
They sat in silence when Beth leaned toward Merle and he moved his left arm up so she could snuggle against him. He slid his left arm arounder her shoulders as she nodded and they looked at the trees.
Later that night
Daryl walked into the room when he saw Carol placing Henry in the crib and Daryl leaned on the doorframe. He had seen Carol run into the farmhouse after she had shot Randall and she had kept away from him after the funeral.
"Carol," made her turn to look at him as Daryl kicked off the doorframe and she sighed. "Are you good?"
"I'm fine," Carol said.
"Bullshit."
He came to a stop in front of her as he placed his hands on her shoulders and he locked eyes with her.
"I've been with you long enough to know when you're hidin' somethin'. What's wrong?" he asked.
"If I tell you, you are going to hate me."
"I could never hate you."
Carol placed her arms around her stomach as he waited for her to say something and she pressed her lips into a thin line.
"I wasn't aiming at Randall," she said.
"Who were you aimin' at?"
"Merle."
Daryl felt like she had kicked him in the chest. He let go of her when he got undressed, got in bed and he pulled the covers almost to his head. She stood at the foot of the bed as she watched the anger move across his face as he snorted a breath of air, closed his eyes and she felt the tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Daryl…?"
He didn't answer. He heard Merle's voice laughing in his head as he placed the pillow over his head and he tried to block out the laughter.
"I told you it wouldn't last. She doesn't give a shit about either of us," Merle's voice said.
"Shut up," Daryl whispered.
"What did you say?" Carol asked with a shocked look on her face.
"Wasn't talkin' to you," he grumbled.
She walked to the bed when she got onto the bed, pulled the pillow off of his head and he turned to look at her. She tossed the pillow onto the floor when she arched an eyebrow and he sat up.
"Now, you listen to me," Carol said while gently holding onto the sides of Daryl's head. "Leave him alone."
"Are you talkin' to Merle?"
"Yeah."
She moved closer when she lightly kissed his lips then they placed their foreheads together. She held onto his shoulders as he felt Merle's ghost leaving his head and he cleared his throat.
"I'm still angry," he whispered.
"That's ok. Just know one thing. The reason I didn't shoot him was because I didn't want to lose you."
Daryl nodded when he sat against the headboard and she snuggled next to him, sliding her left arm around his waist. He looked at her then he placed his arm around her and she placed her head against his shoulder.
"You ain't never gonna lose me. Even if you kick Merle in the nuts fer bein' a piece of shit," he said. She softly laughed and he kissed the side of her head. The room became quiet as they held each other and he gently rocked her back and forth.