Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 57

Author's Note: Now here's the Merle centric chapter. It starts with him meeting our governor (who isn't as insane as he is now) and an old friend. Then it skips a bit when Merle figures something out and takes care of a problem. Once again, Merle's language is not mine. Review please.

Clyde Falcon- James Russo

Phillip Blake came out of the small room that was being used as an infirmary and looked at the man in front of him. "You said you knew this man from before?" he asked.

The six foot man with the shaved head nodded. "We hung out in the same motorcycle clubs, got drunk together, fought with the same people."

"He got family?" Phillip asked.

"He did 'fore this. A brother, sister and niece. The whole missin' hand thing…that's new. Daryl, his brother, wouldn't have left him, something' must have happened," the man reasoned.

"His sister? Niece?" Phillip demanded.

"Jewel was never fond of Merle's views. Wasn't fond of me. She got a little wild durin' her teen years had the kid. I didn't go round much after that. Got arrested, Merle got arrested. But that bein' said, the Dixon siblings' were always protective of each other. But, from what I heard, Jewel became a nurse, so it's possible she was at a hospital when all this went down," the other man answered.

"You ready to stake your life on vouching for him Clyde?" Phillip asked.

"Governor, you know I don't stake my life on vouching for anyone. It's what's kept me alive this long, it's why I joined in with you. But you're goin' to need people who do things that other people won't do, and Merle Dixon is one of those men. Always have been. He's a little rough round the edges, but so am I," Clyde told him.

Phillip nodded. "Let's go see your old friend, see if we can convince him what this place can be with men like him," he said as he opened the door. "How's he doing Doc?"

"He'll make it. His fever's down, and he's coming out of it. I'll leave the three of you alone," the doctor said as she left.

"Hey Merle, you gonna wake up or you gonna lay there like a bump on a log?" Clyde told him as he pulled up a chair.

The man in the bed stirred and looked at him. "Must have died and gone to hell," Merle groused as he woke up.

Phillip gave a small smile. "Actually you're at Woodbury. A few of my men and myself found you a few miles from here. Clyde said he knew you, thought you'd be a good fit. People call me the Governor."

"Governor huh? Well Governor, I could use some booze," Merle said as he sat up.

"We'll see about that later, you've got some powerful drugs going through you right now," Phillip answered. "Clyde here tells me you had family. He also tells me that you missing a hand is new."

Merle glanced at Clyde. "Clyde always had a big mouth."

Phillip put his hand on Clyde's shoulder. "I have to know who I'm bringing into the group. Need to know what they were like before all this. You had family? Then maybe we can look for them, bring them here."

"Sure Clyde mentioned that my sister hates him more then she hates me, and that's a big order," Merle said.

"Jewel got mad at the universe after she got knocked up," Clyde answered. "How'd that happen?" he asked as he nodded toward the hand. "The Doc said it looked like you sawed off your hand. I know you're insane Merle, but even for you that's going a little bit off the reservation."

"Was with a group outside Atlanta, went on a supply run, we found this hick town sheriff who didn' like my way of dealin' with things, handcuffed me to a roof. He gave the key to this nigger fellow who dropped it down the drain, they left. I couldn't get the damn thing off, so I used the saw in the bag we had and cut off my own damn hand," Merle explained.

"Your brother, sister, niece are they part of this group? They left you?" Phillip asked.

"They were alive when I left camp, they weren't on the supply run. Daryl was out huntin', Jewel stayed behind to keep an eye on Summer. They wouldn't have left me. Only people a Dixon can count on is a Dixon," Merle said.

"Well now you're at Woodbury and you can count on us," the Governor told him. "You get better, rest up, and Clyde here will show you around. And we'll get you that drink," he promised. "Families important, and if we find them, they'll be welcome here," the man told him as he left.

Two Months later:

Clyde opened a beer in Merle's quarters. "We're goin' to check the walker pits tomorrow."

"Can't wait, sounds so much fun," Merle said as he took the beer and watched the other man. "Seems like old times huh? Us sharing a drink?"

"Yeah, but we'd have lots of drugs in front of us. And your sister complainin' bout doing her school work while we in the livin' room. Guess she was pretendin' bout that, getting' knocked up and stuff," Clyde said as he opened up his beer.

Merle glanced over at him using the knife attached to his stump and took a drink. "Jewel made a mistake…she owned up to it. Made good for herself and Summer. A whole lot better then either of our parents did for us."

"Heard through the grapevine she got hooked on booze," Clyde said as he sat back.

"Went to AA, for Summer's sake," Merle answered as he studied his friend. "I never told 'er how proud of 'er I was. She pulled herself out of the hell hole situation that was our life, graduated high school, while takin' care of a baby, and getting' herself off booze, and went to nursing' school at night. Summer's a good kid herself."

Clyde nodded as he drank his beer. "Well if you find her, then you tell her. Guess the kids what fourteen now?"

"Fifteen," Merle answered.

"Same age as your sister was when she got knocked up. Must scare you and Daryl that the same mistake will happen again," Clyde told him.

Merle glanced at him and studied him. "See that's the thing I never understood. Jewel wasn't like me and Daryl, she never took crap from anyone, always told people what she thought. She never touched booze, or snuck out. Never made sense to me how she allowed herself to get knocked up."

Clyde opened up another beer. "Like you said we all came from shithole places, Merle. We all did things we had to too survive."

Merle nodded as he watched him. "You didn't always shave your head, had wavy hair if I remember right," he said as he took the drink.

"Yeah started shaving it in prison, why the hell are we talkin' about my hair?" Clyde asked.

"Just rememberin' things, how things were," Merle said as he drank his beer. "So checkin' the pits tomorrow huh? Just you and me."

"Governor trusts us, we trust each other," Clyde answered.

"Yeah, we trust each other," Merle said as he drank his beer.

Next day:

Merle followed Clyde as he watched him. He let his memory wander as he remembered finding out about Jewel's pregnancy.

"You need a lesson in basic math big brother, seven months, you were here. Right before you got carted off to lockup. Easy to sneak out on you and your passed out friends," Jewel's voice said in his head.

"Son of a bitch," Merle mumbled to himself. "Hey Clyde, hold up, thought I heard something'," he said.

Clyde turned and was caught off guard as Merle punched him and pushed him into a tree. "What the hell Merle?"

"You never met my niece have you?" Merle asked. "Jewel hated you, never let you come by."

Clyde looked at him. "Are we really talkin' about this here Merle? No, I never met your sister's kid."

Merle nodded. "See maybe it was because I was always' high, or drunk, or both of us was locked up that I never put two and two together. But the last two months, been noticing' a few things that been starin' me in the face for fifteen years. All us Dixon's have straight hair, straight as it can be. Summer she's got wavy hair, curled up at the ends just like yours used to when it got dirty," he told the other man.

"We're having this discussion because your niece has curly hair? What the hell man? Let me go," Clyde told him.

"Oh we're havin' this conversation because of the way Summer's nose wrinkles when she concentrates real hard, kinda like yours right now," Merle said as he pressed the knife against his friends throat. "Jewel tried to tell me, without mentioning your name. I'm askin' you this once, Clyde, did you rape my sister?"

Clyde looked at him. "Raped? No Merle," he said as he pushed the other man off him. "She opened up those legs for me. Twice. Your brother Daryl caught me the third time, and kicked me out. He thought I raped her too, but she was willin'."

Merle grabbed him and punched him and put him on the ground. "You are a year 'ounger then me you ass swipe. She was barley fifteen, you bastard," he said as he punched him again. "Jewel would have never said yes to you or any of my dead beat friends. You son of a bitch," he told him.

"Merle, the governor isn't gonna like me comin' back with bruises," Clyde said.

"You're right," Merle said as he stood up and offered his hands.

"We'll just forget this right? Just got to deal with what happened," Clyde said as he reached for the other mans hand. "Kinda hope we find them, get to meet my kid," he said.

Merle gave a small smile as he helped him up. "Over my dead body," he said as he stabbed him. "You were always gullible," he said as he pushed him backwards. "You messed with a Dixon, my sister, asshole. You really think we'd just forget about that?" he asked as he pushed him into the pits. "Dinner time," he said calmly as he wiped the blade.

Woodbury:

Philip came out to meet Merle. "Martinez said you had problems? Clyde didn't make it?"

"We were walkin' to the pits, stopped to take a drink of water, he looked one way, I was lookin' the other way. We heard the moanin', I turned three of them had him, he was trying to fight them off, I had one come behind me. He was pushin' his way out, tripped, fell right into the pits. Was nothing' I could do, I tried Governor," Merle assured him.

The other man nodded as he put his hand on his shoulder. "I know he was an old friend of yours, that makes the loss greater."

Merle nodded. "Old ties and all."

"You shot him? We don't let our own turn," the Governor told him.

"I took care of it, didn't hit any of the Walker's," Merle assured him.

"I'm sorry about Clyde, Merle. I really am. But I'm glad that he brought you in. You're a good fit," Phillip told the man.

"Anything I can do, Governor, you know that," Merle answered. "Got to keep the riffraff out and the good people safe."

Phillip nodded. "We have the same line of thought."

"I'd like to clean up before I take watch," Merle told the other man.

"You sure your up to it?" Phillip asked.

"I'm up for it. Just got to press through," Merle said. "It's what Clyde would have expected from me."

Phillip nodded. "Go ahead," he said as he watched him go and nodded to himself.