Red River Blue

Chapter 24

Daryl watched Merle until his brother disappeared around the side of the building. He shifted his crossbow so that it wasn't digging into his back and tried to get comfortable. Today was game of watch and wait. They were planning to hit up a store called the Big Spot. But the place was crawling with walkers. And even worse, someone had set up camp there, so the walkers were fenced in front of the door leading into the store.

The radio had been Glenn's idea. About a half a mile away from the store, they set up a radio rigged to a car battery. The volume was turned up as high as it would go. Merle cut a hole in the fence that was keeping the walkes in. Then he and Daryl ran. Now all they had to do was watch and make sure all the walkers got out so they could come back tomorrow with more people and clear out whatever supplies were left inside the store.

Shifting his weight around again, Daryl tried to ignore the grumble of his empty stomach. He glanced beside him. When Merle went to check around the back of the building, he left his pack behind. Before Merle went on a run, River always packed him a lunch. She usually put a little something extra in there for Daryl too. Daryl hesitated a moment, taking one more drag on his cigarette before flicking it out into the empty parking lot. He looked around to make sure no one was watching him, then he yanked Merle's bag open and started poking around inside.

Feeling the crunch of a brown paper bag, Daryl pulled it out and unrolled the top. Like he had hoped, there were two sandwiches inside. Score. They were wrapped in tinfoil, so Daryl reached inside and peeled the corners open to see what sort of sandwiches were inside. One looked like tomato and mayo so he left it for Merle. The peanut butter and jelly one was for him. When he yanked the sandwich out, a small folded peice of paper fluttered down into his lap.

Daryl was sure the note was not for his eyes, in fact when he turned it over he saw it had Merle's name written on it in River's girlish loopy script. But he was curious as to what it said. They slept together every night, so Daryl wondered what could River have to say to his brother in a note that she hadn't already said to him in person. Setting the sandwich in his lap, Daryl unfolded the note before he had a chance to change his mind. He wasn't sure what he was expecting. A list of what River wanted from the store or a funny joke like the one she had written in the note she packed for Harley maybe? Instead he quickly realized that he was reading something far more private. A love letter. And not just any love letter, it was a poem.

When you drive

and the miles go flying by

I hope you smile

if I ever cross your mind

You are the pleasure of my life

and I cherish every time

My whole world

It begins and ends with you

On that Highway 20 ride

Daryl read the note over again, a small smile creeping across his face. Highway 20 was the road they took to get here. Which meant River must have written the poem recently. The thought of his tough as nails brother getting love poems from his wife was both hysterical and adorable at the same time. Words Daryl never in his life thought he would ever associate with Merle.

Before Daryl could start reading the poem again, which he had every intention of doing, the paper was snatched roughly from his hands. In it's place he now had his brother's angry face glaring at him.

"What the fuck!," Merle cursed. Not only was his bag opened. Daryl's dumbass was eating his food. As if that wasn't enough, the little shit had a piece of paper in his hands that had Merle's name written on the back of it in River's handwriting. Merle clambered up into the bed of the truck and flipped the note over so he could read what it said.

Daryl peeled his sandwich open and took a large bite, chewing with his mouth open and trying to pretend he didn't notice his older brother's ears getting redder by the second. Merle finished with the note. Daryl expected him to rip it up and toss it away, but instead the man smoothed it out and folded it up neatly, stuffing it into the pocket of his pants.

"Stay outta my shit," he spit at Daryl.

Once again, Daryl had to fight the urge to chuckle. River was good for his brother. She always had been. If he had caught Daryl getting into his pack and touching his shit a few months ago, there was a good chance Merle would have done a lot more than cuss at him. He probably would have had him on the ground, roughing him up a little at the very least. But not now. Merle was getting soft, but not in a bad way. Maybe soft was the wrong word. Calm. That was how he seemed now. Calm and much more in control of his anger. Not being high all the time was probably helping with that.

"She put a tomata sammich in there for ya," Daryl told his brother, hoping the information might serve as a peace offering. Merle only grunted in response, but he did open the bag and take out the sandwich, closing his eyes as he chewed the first bite. He didn't know what the hell she put in them, but River made the best tomato sandwiches Merle ever had in his life. One of the little things he missed the most when they had been apart was the lunches she would send to work with him. They were never anything fancy, but they were always good. When he worked for a short time as a diesel mechanic, the guys at the shop used to hang around him during lunch time, knowing that there were often extra cookies or cupcakes in Merle's lunch bag. They only laughed once about the pink frosting. After he shared the first few extra cookies out the laughter turned quickly into hey man do you have anymore o'them pink cookies?

The brothes ate their sandwiches in silence, watching the herd of walkers in the fenced area in front of the store slowly empty out. Merle pulled a bottle of tea out of his bag, the large chunk of ice now slowly melting, making the outside of the bottle sweat. He took a few long swallows before handing it over to Daryl, who made sure not to smile when he took it. Merle sharing the tea with him was his way of saying he forgave him for reading the letter, but if Daryl knew if he started snickering at him, get along time would be over in a real big hurry.

There was something Daryl was curious about. He really knew better than to ask, but Merle seemed more relaxed than normal. Even his face looked peaceful as he stared out into the empty lot.

"Does she always write you letters like that?," Daryl finally blurted out, taking another sip of the tea. He peeked at Merle out of the corner of his eye, trying to gauge how angry his question had made the man. Daryl was being a little nosy. He knew it. But Merle didn't seem angry. Quite the opposite, he had a smile on his face now. A real one. Not the ones he gave to people that were accompanied by his midder finger thrust into the air.

"She used to," Merle admitted, "when I was overseas." War was so much worse than people could ever imagine. He saw men a hundred times tougher than him crack under the pressure. River's letters and the pictures she sent got him through. He wasn't ashamed to admit that. Her love was the only good thing he had in his life. He would never be ashamed of her.

"Liked her letters," Merle added with a different sort of smile on his face now, "but I liked the pictures better." Daryl snorted out a laugh. From the tone of Merle's voice, he guessed his brother was talking about pictures of the naked variety. River had never been shy about showing off her body. So Daryl could only imagine the sort of pictures she might be sending to her husband when he was away at war. Back then pictures of River probably still qualified as porn of the illegal underage sort. On second thought, Daryl decided it might be better if he didn't imagine that.

"So you gone nail that ass or what?," Merle asked. Of course he meant Carol. Since they were talking about naked, Merle thought he might as well change the subject to all the naked ass Darylina wasn't getting. Daryl thought about telling Merle to shut his fat mouth and stop talking about Carol like that, but he knew that would only encourge the man to think of even more foul things to say about her.

"She's sweet on yer ass baby brother," Merle added. Merle was enjoying clearly enjoying himself now and since Daryl had just gotten finished sticking his nose in Merle's love life he could hardly complain about Merle commenting on his business, or lack of business as the case might be.

"You don't know shit," Daryl shot back. Carol wasn't sweet on him. Or if she was, she certainly hadn't given any indication of it.

"Do so know shit," Merle informed him, "Cause River fucking tole me what the mouse been saying 'bout ya."

The mouse was Merle's pet name for Carol. Merle never called anyone by their real name if he could help it, preferring to use nicknames he made up for them instead. The expection to this rule was his daughter Harley, who would bust his ass six ways from Sunday if he didn't use her proper name. Once in a while he would still refer to her as Angel, but not when she was around to hear him. Carol was mouse because her hair was grey like a mouse and she had a funny way of scurrying around that reminded Merle of the rodent in question.

All of the sudden Merle could tell he had Daryl's full attention. He had suspected that Daryl had a thing for the mouse, but now he knew for sure. And River had already blabbed her mouth to him, repeating all the stuff Carol had said about Daryl. The two of them were a fine pair of idiots, at least in Merle's opinion. They both liked each other and they were wasting a lot of time dancing around about it. Time that could be much better spent banging it out in some abandoned corner of the prison. They could always hammer out the details later, pun intended.

"What'd she say 'bout me?," Daryl asked.

"Thought I didn't know shit?," Merle taunted, repeating his brother's words back to him. Daryl huffed some air out through his nose like a dragon and forced himself to turn away and watch the last few walkers make their way through the hole in the fence. Merle would either tell him what River said or he wouldn't. Daryl wasn't going to beg. Besides, he knew Merle would never give up a prime opportunity to run his loud mouth.

"Said she wants that dick but she's afraid you don't like her 'cause she looks like an old grandma and shit," Merle told him after pretending he wasn't going to tell for about five whole seconds.

"She don't look like a gramma," Daryl grumbled. While he didn't care for the comment, he understood the insult about Carol's looks had come from the woman herself and wasn't Merle's personal opinion of her. Young or old, any pussy was good pussy as far as Merle was concerned. Daryl turned and eyeballed his brother. "Ya sure 'bout this?," he asked, "If yer pulling my leg I'm gonna beat yer fuckin' ass Merle." Merle snickered at that, but made no move to take back his earlier statement.

"The only biters left are the ones caught on the fence," Merle said, pointing and turning the conversation back to the mission at hand. He jumped down from the bed of the truck and they headed across the parking lot together. Since the walkers were stuck, there was no reason for Daryl to use his bow. They just crept up and stabbed them through the fence. Merle patted him on the back once they were done and they walked back to their truck together. Merle climbed into the driver's seat. Daryl expected him to head back to the prison, but after a few right turns Merle took a wrong one, heading down the street towards a small outdoor mall. Before Daryl could make a complaint or start asking questions, Merle explained himself.

"Just got a quick stop to make 'fore we go back."

** This chapter contained lyrics from the song Highway 20 Drive by the Zac Brown Band. I altered them slightly to fit, but they are still similar enough that I thought I should give credit. **