Red River Blue
Chapter 44
"Done with yer nap?"
The words were spoken directly into Glenn's face as he was pelted with a few drops of spittle. He wiped at his face as he forced his eyes to blink open against the bright sunlight. Pushing himself up into a sitting postion, he scootched himself slightly away from the man that was speaking to him. Merle Dixon had a way of getting into people's personal space that was just uncomfortable.
"What happened?," Glenn asked. Without waiting for a response he fired off another question, "Where are we?" He could tell he was in a moving vehicle. But the last thing he could remember was fighting to get through the scattered herd of walkers that had filled the prison yard after the governor's attack. His head was still pounding.
"Yer dumbass passed out," Merle graciously informed him. "Figured the back of this truck was better than leavin' ya on the side of tha road." The truth was that Merle had thought very seriously about leaving Glenn behind. And then thought even more seriously about leaving him in the back of the truck alone while he resumed his search for River without a tag-a-long. But in the end that hadn't felt right. Merle told himself he stayed because he intended to steal the truck they were riding in for himself. But the truth was that Glenn had just saved him from a horrible death by thrist and starvation and leaving him for the walkers was something even Merle wasn't willing to do.
"How long have we been on this truck?," Glenn asked. He was starting to feel the panic rising inside his body. This truck was driving fast. And it was headed in the wrong direction. Away from the prison. Away from Maggie. Every second that he sat in that truck was a minute of walking back the way they had come.
Glenn staggered to his feet. Not caring anymore if he was in Merle's personal space or if the man was in his, he stepped over Merle's legs and started pounding on the window of the moving truck. Merle leaned back and watched Glenn as the man began to throw what could only be described as a rather epic fit. He screamed and pounded on the window, demanding for the man driving to stop the truck. When all he got in response to his demands was the middle finger of the driver thrust against the glass, Glenn started pounding on the window with the butt of his gun. Glenn still couldn't fight for shit, but Merle had to admit he was a fiesty little fucker.
"Move," Merle hollered. He smacked at Glenn to move the man out of the way. Then he pressed the muzzle of his gun against the glass and pulled the trigger. He aimed high. Killing the occupants of the truck was not on his to do list yet. But he fully intended to show them that he meant business.
The girl inside the cab of the truck screamed and ducked down onto the floorboards, dragging the guy with the mullet along with her. The truck squealed to a hault, tossing both Merle and Glenn up against the back of the cab like rag dolls. Merle scrambled to his feet. He shoved Glenn's bag at him and then grabbed his own bag, which not not only contained the things he had scavenged from the prison but also everything he had taken from the supplies that were being stored in the back of Abraham's truck.
Merle had been thinking of ways to gain control of the vehicle. But he hadn't really had time to come up with a solid plan. Or time to talk Glenn into helping him, which he was fairly sure he could if he sold him on the idea that stealing the truck was the fastest way to find their wives. Glenn was already climbing down from the truck as the large red haired driver stepped out. Merle took a last longing glance at the vehicle, reminding himself that they could always find another car to hot wire along the way.
"What in the hell!," the large man exclaimed. He seemed to be angry about the gun that had been shot off near his person. As far as Merle was concerned the man ought to be happy the bullet didn't go straight through his brain. Merle assumed that the man planned to start a fight with them. He started feeling confused when instead of swinging on either of them, Abraham started up on some idiotic speal about how he needed their help to save the world.
Glenn had never been a violent person. He had no quarrel with the man that was yelling at him. And certainly had no wish to start a fight with a man that was almost twice his size. Until the man hollered out the most hurtful thing possible. That Maggie was dead. In the uncertain world they were currently living in, the possibility that he might never find Maggie again was all too real for Glenn. His hope and belief that she wasn't was the only thing keeping him going. Having that hope mocked was more than he could take. Glenn didn't think about the consequences. He turned and punched the man right in his big yapping mouth.
After he got over his shock at being suddenly attacked, Abraham raised his own fist and prepared to fight back. Glenn braced himself for the beating that was coming his way. But before Abraham could even pull his fist all the way back, a loud clunk rang out. It almost sounded like a child banging a wooden spoon down on a metal bowl. Abraham was knocked to the ground. Blood was dripping from his ear and the side of his mouth. Merle had hit him with the metal sleeve he wore over his arm. Glenn hadn't expected any help from the man. In his anger he had forgotten for a moment that Merle was even there.
"Come on," Merle said, yanking at the strap of Glenn's backpack in his impatience, "Let's take his fuckin' truck!" Glenn cast another glance at the man on the ground as he quickly calculated the possible scenarios that might arise from the situation he currently found himself in. He had not considered robbing these people before Merle hollered it at him. And he knew there was a strong possibility that if he refused to go along with the theft, that Merle would steal the truck anyway and leave him there in the road to get his ass beat.
Glenn nodded and started moving. He raised his gun. A woman dressed in shorts was pointing her gun at Merle and he was pointing his gun at her. They started yelling at each other. Glenn was surprised that the woman wasn't backing down despite the very nasty threatening words that Merle was exchanging with her. Glenn knew the man well enough that when he lowered his gun and took a step towards her that the standoff wasn't going to go well for the woman. Sure enough Merle darted in and grabbed her, twisting her wrist until she dropped her gun. He kicked the gun towards Glenn. Picking up the gun, Glenn tucked it into the back of his pants.
"Get your fuckin' hands off her!"
The cry came from behind Glenn and he raised his gun as he turned. The red haired man he had punched was staggering towards them, his gun pointed at Merle and the woman he had in a choke hold. Glenn wasn't sure what to do or how he had suddenly found himself in such a horrible position. But since he was afraid if the man shot Merle that he might be next, he held his gun up and pointed it at the bleeding man.
Everyone was screaming at the same time. And then a moment later you couldn't hear anything over the sound of rapid gunfire. There were walkers everywhere. The yelling and fighting had drawn them in. They were coming out of the corn fields on either side of the road in bunches. Glenn hesitated a moment longer. Then he turned and started firing at the walkers. Abraham did the same. Merle let go of his hostage and shoved a loaded handgun at her before he started shooting. Once the herd was down the smell of gasoline started to fill the air.
TWD
"Stop!," Glenn yelled, shoving at Merle's chest and trying to move him away from the large red haired man for what felt like about the tenth time.
"Just let them fight," Rosita suggested, already tired of the bickering between the two men that had started up after the truck was destroyed and continued on for another hour. The last time they started swinging at each other they busted the only gallon water jug left that was full of clean water.
Eugene called out to them and stopped the fighting. He had found a sign hanging near the railroad tracks. It was attached to a map that looked like it led to some sort of community. After some discussion and some more bickering between Abraham and Merle, it was decided that they would follow the tracks. They walked on for about a mile without any further arguments. The group spread out a little, which helped. It was easier to watch out for walkers if they weren't all walking in a pack.
Merle made sure to walk towards the back of the group. From there he could keep an eye on the people he didn't trust. This group oddly included everyone except Glenn, who was the one person he used to be sure he couldn't trust at all. Seeing that sign had started him wondering. If there was one sign, there had to be more. And if there were more, he guessed there was a possibility that River and his girls had seen one. He didn't trust the signs. Any community that advertised was either full to the brim with morons or full of smart people that had some evil intentions for the people they were trying to attract to their location. But he knew River wouldn't think that way. If she saw the signs Merle believed she would follow them. And either way he at least needed to check the place and make sure his girls weren't there.
Glenn rounded a bend in the tracks. A few moments later Merle heard the man calling his name. He raised his gun and started running, assuming that the man was in some sort of trouble. But when he got Glenn in his sights the man was just standing there wiping at his eyes. He pointed to a sign next to him. But Merle couldn't read it. Abraham was standing in the way. The large man turned, stepping aside to give Merle a view of what they had found. At first all Merle saw was another Terminus sign. They had seen two already so he wasn't sure what was so special about this one. Then he saw the writing under the sign.
There was a dead walker on the ground. It's chest was ripped open and had been dipped into. The note was written in blood. It was addressed to him, his girls and Glenn. It said for them to go to terminus. And it was signed by River, Maggie and two other members of the prison group. River had even drawn a little heart by her name.
Merle stepped forward, running his fingers across River's bloody signature. The blood was mostly dry but in the few places where it had gone on thicker the fluid still smeared slightly. That meant the women couldn't be more than a few hours ahead of them at the most.