"Best not to dwell on it. Merle got left behind. Nobody's gonna be sad he didn't come back… Except maybe Daryl." Morales told us as we drove to their camp.
"Daryl?" Rick asked.
"Who's Daryl?" I asked him.
"Merle's brother." Morales told us and I leaned my head against the door. The man had family and we left him behind. How stupid could we be? We heard the car alarm behind us and watched in the mirrors and windows as a red car passed us.
"Whoo-hoo!" we heard Glenn shout out in joy.
"At least somebody's having a good day." Morales said with a smile on his face, trying to lighten our mood.
"Somebody needs to in this world." I said.
At the camp, one of the men was fixing some cans around the perimeter. One of the kids had gotten to close while playing and broke the string and the man volunteered to fix it for everyone.
"Jim." Jack called to the man. "Amy gave me more cans for ya." Jack and James placed the cans next to Jim.
"Thanks." Jim said and they nodded before leaving. James climbed up on the RV with Dale and the radio.
"Anything on the radio since earlier?" James asked the Dale hopeful for some good news.
"Not yet but it's still on if they call again." Dale told the boy.
"I wish my sister was here. She'd lead a group to help the others back here no matter what Shane told her. Family was always so important to her." James told Dale.
"Tell me about her." Dale told him, trying to keep the boys mind on happier times.
"She a lot older than I am cause I was adopted. A cousin of ours was pregnant and the doctors told her she would have to make a choice if it came down to her baby or her, and she chose her baby. She died in childbirth and my parents adopted me, raised me like their own for years before I started asking questions. They were very open and honest with me, but I felt betrayed and that was when my sister stepped in. She told me all about my birth mom and how close they had been. Then she told me that family isn't about blood relations to someone. It's about the connections we make with the people we surround ourselves with."
"She sounds like a bright girl." Dale said with a smile.
"She was. Top of all her classes in high school and college." James bragged making Dale chuckle.
"You never know. She could be on her way here right now." Dale said, trying to comfort the teenager next to him. Suddenly, a loud high pitched noise blared in the mountains coming closer to them.
"Hey, Dale, can you see what that is?" Jack asked Dale as he looked through the binoculars towards the source of the noise.
"Talk to me, Dale!" Shane ordered.
"I can't tell yet." Dale told them.
"Is it them? Are they back?" Amy asked him hopeful that her sister was returning to her.
"I'll be damned." Dale said quietly.
"What is it?" James asked him trying to see with his bare eyes.
"A stolen car is my guess." Dale told them. Not long later the red car pulled up to the RV and Glenn emerged with a large grin on his face. "Holy crap. Turn that damn thing off!"
"I don't know how!" Glenn admitted. That was when everyone started talking at once.
"Pop the hood, please. Pop the damn hood, please." Shane asked him.
"What?" Glenn asked him over the noise and people talking all at once.
"My sister Andrea…" Amy started asking.
"Pop the damn hood!" Shane ordered again.
"Okay okay. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah yeah!" Glenn said sitting in the car again.
"Is she okay? Is she all right?" Amy asked as Glenn popped the hood so Shane could disconnect the alarm.
"She's okay! She's okay!" Glenn told her.
"Is she coming back?" Amy asked him.
"Yes!" Glenn answered.
"Why isn't she with you? Where is she? She's okay?" Amy fired off at him.
"Yes! Yeah, fine. Everybody is. Well, Merle not so much." Glenn told them.
"Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every Walker for miles? " Shane asked him.
"I think we're okay." Dale told him as he and James came down from the top of the RV.
"You call being stupid okay?" Shane asked Dale.
"Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source. I'm not arguing. I'm just saying. It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" Dale asked Glenn.
"Sorry. Got a cool car." Glenn said as the truck with the rest of the group arrived behind him.
"Come meet everybody." Morales said as Rick turned off the truck and I opened the door so everyone in the back could leave. I looked up at Rick and saw him pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Headache?" I asked moving up to him.
"Yeah, a bit." He told me.
"I got some painkillers in my bag and some water. Give me a sec and I'll get them for ya." I said going to my bag.
"Amy." Andrea said happily running to her sister.
"Andrea!" Amy shouted, meeting her older sister half way. When they reached each other they hugged each other tightly. "Oh my god! You scared the shit out of me." Morales got out of the truck and his two kids ran for him with his wife behind them.
"Papi! Daddy!" his son shouted as he ran to his father. Morales picked him up and hugged him.
"Hey. Come here, sweetie. Hey. I told you I'd be back, didn't I?" Morales asked his wife. Lori knew this was depressing her son so they both moved away from the loving family of four so she could talk to him under Shane's ever watchful eyes.
"You are a welcome sight." Dale told Morales hugging him making them both laugh. "I thought we had lost you folks for sure."
"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane asked them.
"New guy… he got us out." Glenn told him.
"New girl got some medical training to that could help." T-Dog told him.
"New guy and new girl?" Shane asked them.
"Yeah, crazy Vatos just got into town. Hey, helicopter couple! Come say hello." Morales called out and we got out of the truck. "The guy's a cop like you."
"We're not a couple." I told Morales as we made our way to the large group.
"Oh my god." Rick whispered before moving to the boy and his mother.
"Dad! Dad!" the boy called out and I smiled at the happy reunion. I noticed a familiar face close to the mother's and I stared in shock at him.
"Daddy? James?" I moved to them before breaking out into a full run to them. By the time I got to them we were all crying and holding onto each other as tightly as we could.
Survival Camp Later that night
That night we were sitting down around the embers of a camp fire telling our stories. Both Rick and I were surrounded by our families none of them wanting to let us go.
"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion… all those things but… Disoriented comes closest." Rick told us.
"Was that before or after the shovel knocked your happy ass out?" I joked making everyone chuckle.
"Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short." Dale said.
"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever." Rick told us.
"Mom said you died." Carl told his dad.
"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it." Rick told him.
"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened." Lori told him.
"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell." Rick said.
"Yeah." Lori agreed.
"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun." Rick said, remembering the minutes after he woke up.
"Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?" Shane told him.
"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it." Rick told him.
"There go those words falling short again. Paltry things." Dale said.
"What about you?" James asked me. "Any exciting tales?"
"Not really. After we came across our first Walker mom and I got into the bunker and stayed there until we needed food. When we went up we came across this family and helped them out. Before long most of our supplies were out so we set out for Atlanta. A week later mom and I were doing a supply run when she got bit. I was on watch and she went into a small convenient store. It didn't make itself known until it got her. We stayed in one place long enough for her to die peacefully. Once she stopped breathing I made sure she would rise again before we moved on." I told them staring into the embers. There was silence, around our fire until a man at another fire behind us added a log to the embers.
"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Shane asked the man.
"It's cold, man." Ed told him.
"The cold don't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?" Shane asked him.
"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once." Ed told him. Shane got up and we all watched the interaction between him and Ed for a moment.
"Hey, Ed… Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?" Shane asked him.
"Go on. Pull the damn thing out. Go on!" Ed shouted at the woman at his fire. She quickly stood, taking the blanket off herself, and pulled the log out of the fire.
"Christ." Shane muttered under his breath stomping the flames out from a stray ember. He then kneeled down and looked to the woman and girl.
"Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening?" Shane asked them.
"Fine. We're just fine." Carol told him.
"Okay." Shane said. It looked like he was wanting a different answer from her but accepted the one she gave.
"I'm sorry about the fire." Carol said knowing Ed wouldn't.
"No no no. No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?" he told them.
"Thank you." Carol said before leaning back in her chair.
"I appreciate the cooperation." Shane said sarcastically to Ed before joining us again.
"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind." Dale asked us.
"I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me." T-Dog said.
"I cuffed him. That makes it mine." Rick said.
"Guys, it's not a competition." Glenn told them. "I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy." Glenn told T-Dog.
"If Daryl's like his brother then Glenn's right, T-Dog." I told him.
"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him." T-Dog told us.
"We could lie." Amy suggested.
"Or tell the truth." Andrea said to her before turning to the group. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."
"And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise… We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt." Dale told us.
"I'm liking this Daryl less and less by the minute." I said.
"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it." T-Dog said.
"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" Andrea asked him.
"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that… Not that chain, not that padlock. My point… Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." T-Dog said before getting up and walking away from the fire leaving us all with our thoughts.
Tent
When we all retired to our tents I ended up sharing one with James and Dad for now.
"Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." I told James.
"Love you sis." He told me.
"Love you to kid." I said giving him a smile before getting comfortable and seeing my dad watching us with a smile.
"You found us." He said simply.
"Yeah." I said.
"I knew you would, I just hoped…" he broke off looking down at the ground.
"I'm so sorry dad. I should have been the one who was in the store at the time. Not her." I said to him.
"Don't say that. I honestly don't know if your mother would have been good in this world. I don't know if she would have survived, with or without us." He told me and I nodded.
"She was doing fine until we hit the road, but food and supplies had gotten scarce." I told him.
"At least she didn't come back as a Walker. That would have been worse than her being bitten." He told me and I nodded. "You shouldn't have been the one to do that."
"It was either me or people she didn't know. I made the right choice." I told him and he nodded in understanding at my reasons.
"It's late. Get to bed." He told me turning out the light in out tent.
The next morning I woke and walked the woods quarry to clean off and change. It was still real early so no one was up yet except my dad who happened to be on watch. I ran the cold water over my skin and washed the dirt and blood off my body before changing into a pair of jeans, black combat boots, and a black tank. I walked up to camp to see people awake and moving around doing what they normally did. Pleasantries were passed around the camp as I walked by. The women had started laundry while the men were sitting on their asses. This reminded me of history classes with the Native Americans. Women did the house work and gathering while men did the hunting and protection.
"My things have changed." I said to no one.
"It's not like there's much of a choice." Amy said as she joined me in watching the camp. "We all made up the chores for everyone when we first got here."
"I get that, but still. We had equality before the dead rose and treating us like happy meals with legs." I said and she laughed.
"You gonna be the women's right advocate?" she asked me and I gave her a small smile.
"Well I'm not spending my day doing laundry and dishes. I'll help but I've gotten to use to going out on runs and hunting." I told her. We started walking to where her sister was doing their laundry.
"Then maybe you'll be the hope of all women." She said and I laughed.
"Hey, what funny?" Andrea asked us.
"Your sister thinking I'm the next women's right activist just cause I refuse to sit on my ass all day while the men do the heavy lifting." I told her.
"Well you can maybe, but the rest of us have to do the chores." Andrea told me. I smiled at her and watched as the guys started taking apart the red car Glenn had drove and joined him in watching the pieces roll by. We were soon joined by Rick who was looking better.
"Look at 'em. Vultures. Yeah, go on, strip it clean." Glenn called to them.
"Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it. Sorry, Glenn." Dale said walking by with a gas can.
"Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days." Glenn told us.
"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Rick said patting him on the back and leaving.
"Who knows, it might even be more expensive than this one was." I told him before going to join my dad on top of the RV.
"Hey." I greeted sitting down.
"Hey, you sleep okay? You were up pretty early." He said.
"Yeah. Not used to sleeping past the sun being up anymore, that's all." I told him. "I've been thinking about the man we left behind in Atlanta. Merle Dixon."
"Why?" he asked me as we watched Shane and James drive back to camp with water.
"Water's here, y'all. Just a reminder to boil before use." Shane called out and they surrounded him
"It's not right leaving a man up on the roof of a building to die. I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy let alone a man I barley know." I explained.
"You're right, but no one in camp is going to go back for him and I don't want you to go alone." My dad told me.
"I thought you'd fight me more." I told him.
"It's been two months since I left you and your mom. I have no right to order you around." He told me.
"You're still my dad. You have every right, but I'm not the same little girl back on the farm." I said. Suddenly we heard someone screaming.
"Mom!" one of the kids called out.
"Carl?" Lori called to him. Everyone ran into action. My dad and I climbed off the RV and grabbed anything before running with the rest of the group.
"It's over there!" James called out.
"Dad!" Carl called out again.
"Baby!" Lori called out again.
"Mama! Mommy!" The little girl from last night, Sophia, called out.
"Rick!" Glenn tossed him a gun as they ran.
"Carl!" Lori called again. I grabbed a couple of poles from the ground and tossed one to my dad as we ran.
"Over here, Carl! Sophia! Come on, come on!" James called to the kids.
"Carl! Baby!" Lori called as we reached them.
"Mom!" I watched yhe boy run to his parents and his mother knelt down in front of him.
"You're okay?" Rick asked and he nodded.
"I've got him. I've got him." Lori told him and we continued farther.
"Nothing bit you? Nothing scratched you?" Lori asked Carl.
"No, I'm okay." He told her. The rest of us came across a Walker eating a deer carcass. The men and I surrounded it and that was when it noticed us. It started to attack us and we all hit it with the items we'd picked up on the way over. It was like one of those scenes from a high school movie with the geek being beaten by a group of jocks before Dale finally chopped off its head.
"It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain." Dale told us.
"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." Jim reminded him. We yhen heard branchs snapping and footsteps coming our way. We all prepared for another Walker when a man with a crossbow walked into the clearing. He jumped back at seeing all of us ready to attack before we all relaxed.
"Oh, Jesus." Dale said.
"Son of a bitch. That's my deer!" The man said. I looked back at the deer to see three bolts sticking out of the carcass. "Look at it. All gnawed on by this… filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" He said while kicking the Walkers body with every word.
"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale told him.
"What do you know about it, old man?" The man asked getting in Dale's face "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "on golden pond"?" The man walked back to the deer and removed his bolts. "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" He asked looking back at us.
"I would not risk that." Shane told him and he sighed.
"That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel… about a dozen or so. That'll have to do." He said motioning to the squirrels on a rope over his shoulder. Suddenly, the Walker head started to open and close its mouty.
"Oh god." Amy said and Andrea pulled her away from us.
"Come on, people. What the hell?" He asked us before shooting a bolt into the Walker's eye. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" He asked us before going back to the camp.
"Let me guess, that's Daryl Dixon." I said and James nodded. "Yeah, I'm not going to like him at all." I said and we all went back to camp.
"Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up." Daryl called his brother as he put his crossbow next to one of the burnt out fires.
"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." Shane told him.
"About what?" Daryl asked.
About Merle. There was a… There was a problem in Atlanta." Shane said. Daryl looked between Shane, who had manuvered himself between Daryl and the women, and us
"He dead?" Daryl asked him as he started to pace.
"We're not sure." Shane told him.
"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl shouted at us.
"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick said moving towards Daryl.
"This isnt going to be good." I said pulling my knife out slowly after noticing Daryl's.
"Who are you?" Daryl asked him.
"Rick Grimes."
"Rick grimes, you got something you want to tell me?" Daryl asked him.
"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." Rick told him as I noticed T-Dog come back to camp with firewood.
"Hold on. Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" Daryl shouted at Rick.
"Yeah." Rick answered. Daryl threw the squirrels at Rick, who dodged them as Daryl made to attack him again. Shane dhoved him away from his friend and knocked him on his back.
"Hey!" T-Dog said dropping the wood. Daryl pulled out his knife and I moved closer to them. "Watch the knife!" Daryl attacked with the knife but I knocked his blade away from Rick as Shane came up behind him and put him in a choke hold
"Okay. Okay." Shane said.
"You'd best let me go!" Daryl warned him.
"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane told him as he lowered him to the ground and I put my knife away.
"Choke hold's illegal." Daryl told him.
"You can file a complaint. Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day." Shane said.
"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that? Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked him bent down do he could look the man in the eyes.
"Hmm?" Shane asked.
"Mmm. Yeah." Daryl said quietly and Shane let him go.
"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick told him.
"It's not Rick's fault." T-Dog said making all look at him. "I had the key. I dropped it."
"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl asked him.
"Well, I dropped it in a drain." T-Dog explained. Daryl slowly got up.
"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." Daryl said throwing dirt at T-Dog's feet.
"Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof… So the geeks couldn't get at him… With a padlock." T-Dog yold him.
"It's gotta count for something." Rick said. We all watched as Daryl wioed his eyes with the back of hand.
"Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so's I can go get him." Daryl ordered Rick.
"He'll show you." We all turned to look Lori who was standing in front of the door to the RV. "Isn't that right?" We turned to Rick for his answer. He looked around at all of us before nodding.
"I'm going back." He confirmed. He and Daryl stared at each other for a moment before Daryl moved past him back to his crossbow and Rick went back to his tent. A little while later, Rick came out with his police uniform on. He walks past Shane.
"So that's it, huh?" I heard Shane ask him as they made their way to us. "You're just gonna walk off? Just to hell with everybody else?"
"I'm not saying to hell with anybody… Not you Shane…Lori least of all." Rick told him. I grabbed the bag I'd packed with supplies and moved to the area everyone was at.
"Tell her that." Shane said.
"She knows." Rick insisted.
"Well, look, I… I don't, okay, Rick? So could you just… Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Shane asked louder as they made their way to the group.
"Hey, choose your words more carefully." Daryl said pointing an arrow at Shane.
"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant." Shane told Daryl before looking back to Rick. "Merle Dixon…The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."
"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst… me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." Rick said.
"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori asked turned and looked at Glenn who quickly got the question.
"Oh, come on." Glenn said looking away from him then back.
"You know the way. You've been there before… In and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask… I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." Rick told him and he nodded.
"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" Shane asked him
"Four." T-Dog said standing up while Daryl scoffed.
"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" He asked.
"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog asked him.
"Why you?"Daryl asked him while cleaning his bolts.
"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language." T-Dog said.
"That's four." Dale said to Shane.
"Five." I told them. "I'm going to."
"Your dad know about this?" He asked me and I gave him a look.
"First of all, I am over the age of 18 and have been for some time now. I dont need my dad's permission to do anything. Second, this ain't the puritan days when women had to bow down and do as a man says, so deal with it." I told him.
"That's not what I was implying." He told me.
"No?" I asked him. "Then what was it?"
"She'd go even if we told her not to." My dad told Shane and the man finally backed down.
"It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp." Shane said trying to convince us to stay.
"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Rick told him.
"Right, the guns." Glenn said remembering the bag we'd dropped.
"Wait. What guns?" Shane asked confused.
"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up." Rick told him.
"Ammo?" Shane asked him.
"700 rounds, assorted." Rick replied.
"You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?" Lori asked her husband.
"Dad, I don't want you to go." Carl told him.
"To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in. Tell me. Make me understand." She said standing up and moving to him.
"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy." She turned and looked at Carl about to say something when Rick continued talking. "Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow us to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap we did if I don't warn him." Rick explained to her.
"What's stopping you?" She asked him.
"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer." He explained.
"These are our walkies?" Shane asked him.
"Yeah." Rick answered.
"So use the CB. What's wrong with that?" Andrea asked them.
"The CB's fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap… Date back to the '70s, don't match any other bandwidth… Not even the scanners in our cars." Shane explained to her.
"I need that bag. Okay?" Rick whispered to his wife and she looked down at the ground before nodding to him.
"All right." She said, hopefully understanding. Rick turned to his boy and knelt in front of him so they were eye level.
"Okay?" he asked Carl and he nodded yes.
"Let's get everything we need then." I said and the five of us prepared to leave. Glenn and Daryl got the truck ready while Rick, T-Dog and I walked to Dale, Jim and my dad who were all working on the RV while James kept watch.
"Rumor is you have bolt cutters." Rick said to Dale.
"Maybe." Dale answered.
"Yeah, we get to that roof, though, we'll need to cut that chain and the handcuffs." T-Dog told him.
"I never like lending tools. The last time I did… And yes, I am talking about you…" Dale said pointing at T-Dog. "Let's just say your bag of guns wasn't the only bag that was dropped. My tools got left behind with Merle."
"We'll bring your tools back too. Think of the bolt cutters as an investment." Rick told him.
"Sounds like more of a gamble." Dale said moving to his toolbox. He put the tool he was using in it and grabbed the bolt cutters. He was about to hand it over when he stopped and looked at Rick.
"What do I get in return?" Dale asked him.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"How about one of those guns you bring back? My pick." Dale suggested. Rick looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders. What was one gun verses a man's life?
"Done." Rick said looking back at him.
"Dale, let's… Sweeten the deal a bit. Now that cube van of yours…" Jim said looking up at Rick.
"What about it?" Rick asked him.
"The RV's radiator hose is shot. That's a problem if we need to get somewhere and wanna get very far. And the hose on that van is just about a perfect match… Well, enough that I can make it fit." Jim explained.
"I'll tell you what… we get back, you can strip that van down to the bare metal." Rick told him. Behind us the horn on the van went off and we turned to see Daryl honking the van horn with his foot as Dale handed the bolt cutters to Rick.
"Come on, let's go!" he ordered us.
"I'm going to slap him." I muttered.
"Breathe, Jackie." My dad told me.
"Yeah, yeah." I said before hugging him. "See you later."
"Come back safe." He told me.
"Thank you." Rick said to Dale. We made our way to the van and Rick gave the bolt cutter to T-Dog as Shane made his way to us with a bag.
"Hey, Rick, got any rounds in the python?" Shane asked him as T-Dog got in the van.
"No." Rick answered.
"Last time we were on the gun range, I'm sure I wound up with a few loose rounds of yours." Shane said placing the bag on the van and digging through it. I gave Daryl and T-Dog two bags, one of med supplies and the other with food just in case.
"You and that bag… like the bottom of an old lady's purse." Rick said to Shane.
"I hate that you're doing this, man. I think that it's foolish and reckless. But if you're gonna go, you're taking bullets." Shane told him.
"I'm not sure I'd want to fire a shot in the city, not after what happened last time." Rick told him.
"That's up to you. Well… Five men, five rounds. What are the odds, huh? Well, let's just hope that… Let's just hope five is your lucky number, okay?" Shane asked handing me the bullets as Daryl helped me into the van.
"Thank you." Rick said to Shane.
"Thanks." I said to Daryl before moving further into the van.
"All right." Shane said to him. Rick got into the front with Glenn and put the bullets into his gun as Daryl closed the back door and Glenn took off as everyone else watched us go.
"He'd better be okay. It's my only word on the matter." Daryl told T-Dog as the truck made its way to Atlanta.
"I told you the geeks can't get at him. The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us." T-Dog told him as he wiped his mouth off with a red handkerchief.
"Why'd you bring food and shit?" Daryl asked me.
"Food just in case we get stuck here longer than what we want to be and the other shit in case Merle or anyone else needs medical attention." I told him as Glenn stopped the truck.
"We walk from here." He told us. We all got up and I handed Glenn the bag of food and I put the bag with the med supplies on my back as Daryl opened the back of the truck for us. We all got out and began walking along the railroad tracks into the city.
At the Quarry, James was keeping watch as the women washed clothes with Ed watching them and Shane and Carl were trying to catch frogs. With the Walker being in camp Shane didn't want to take any chance so now everywhere someone went another person had to be on watch and two people were to be on the RV keeping watch at all times which is where Dale and Jack were now.
We cut through a fens and filed through to get to the city.
"Merle first or guns?" Rick asked.
"Merle! We ain't even having this conversation." Daryl said.
"I agree with Daryl. Merle is the one we need to focus on right now." I told him.
"We are having this conversation." Rick told us. "You know the geography. It's your call." Rick told Glenn.
"Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first." Glenn decided.
At the Quarry, the woman were talking as they did their chores when they suddenly started laughing. After something Carol said they started laughing harder which drew Ed to them.
"What's so funny?" He asked them.
"Just swapping war stories, Ed." Andrea told him.
"Yeah." Amy agreed as Ed went up to them.
"Problem, Ed?" Andrea asked him.
"Nothin' that concerns you. And you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club." Ed told them and James rolled his eyes at the man. He was an abusive bastard and everyone knew it. He looked away for a moment only to see Lori making her way to Shane and Carl.
"Hey, Carl, what did I tell you about not leaving Dale and Jack's sight?" she asked her son.
"But Shane said we could catch frogs, remember?" Carl asked her.
"It doesn't matter what Shane says. It matters what I say. Go on back to camp. I'll be right behind you. James, do you mind going with him?" she asked the teen. James made his way to them and shook his head.
"No. Come on, I'll race you buddy." Both boys ran back up to the RV with large smiles on their faces.
We went to the building we'd been trapped in to see one female Walker still in the department store. Rick stopped us from moving before motioned to Daryl to take her out.
"Damn. You are one ugly skank." Daryl said to her. He shot her through the head killing her again before pulling out the arrow.
Jack looked down at the Quarry in time to see Shane grab Ed and pull him away from the women. Jack watched for a moment before getting off the RV and rushing to the Quarry. When he got down there Ed's face was a bloody mess. Jack rushed and pushed Shane off Ed.
"That's enough!" Jack ordered the younger man. Shane made a move to get back at Ed and Jack watched him carefully.
"You put your hands on your wife, your little girl or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!" Shane shouted at the man.
"Yes." Ed said.
"I'll beat you to death, Ed." Shane warned him again.
"Ed!" Carol called out.
"I'll beat you to death." Shane repeated before hitting him once more and kicking him in the stomach.
"Get back up to camp Shane!" Jack yelled at Shane who stormed off with everyone except Carol and Ed watching him warily.
"Oh God! No. God!" Carol broke free from the group of women and went to her husband's side. "Ed, I'm sorry. Oh my God. Ed, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Ed. Ed, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Ed."
We reached the roof and cut through the padlock and got onto the roof with Daryl in front of everyone.
"Merle! Merle!" Daryl called out rushing to his brother. We all stopped at what we saw except for Daryl who moved back and forth.
"No! No!" Daryl shouted, his voice shaking. We all stayed silent as he looked up at us angrily then back to the ground. "No!" On the ground was Dale's saw and next to it was a hand laying in dried blood and a bloody handcuff hanging from where Rick had left it. "No! No!"
