It's My Life
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Charlene.
Inspired by song 'The Regulator' by Clutch.
Chapter 12: The Regulator
Merle wanted to scream, but he didn't. He bit back the howls and tears that welled up in his eyes as his lip snarled with effort and his brain fought for consciousness. The blade continued to bite and cut into his flesh- tearing the muscle, tendons, ligaments and skin away straight into the bone.
His breath was labored into pitiful whimpers as he drove on even harder into his hand. The tremors ran through his soul as the pain struck every nerve in his body- his brain screamed for him to stop, but the moans of the dead only encouraged his gut onward.
Motherfuckers. Those stupid sons of bitches left him here to die, only problem was Merle didn't lie down like a bitch and accept shit like that. He would survive and he would make that goddamn officer wish he had died up here instead.
Merle was a survivor. Nobody could kill him except himself. The day he gave up would be the day he died- but not today. He would not leave his little brother in this world. He never left Daryl all those years growing up with their daddy, and now especially he would not leave him. Kin were always there for each other.
His hand fell, and he watched in astonishment at the screaming chunked up flesh that used to be his wrist. The rusty, dull saw had cut jaggedly and left a nasty piece of work. Merle began to laugh as the blood ran down his arm; he could see the haggard cut of the bone and the meat and everything that was Merle lying prone in his own little nub.
He wiggled his fingers and cackled as he stared at his lifeless hand- half expecting his fingers to obey his command. However, they didn't and that seemed to be the wake-up call that Merle's mind needed to jumpstart the pain fueled psychosis currently inhabiting his brain.
The crazed man tightened his belt around the nub to stem the flow of blood. Black specks began to inflict upon his vision as he staggered past the moans coming from the chained door. He waved his good hand, "Goodbye, my pretties, Ol' Merley's getting the fuck outta here."
Charlene pressed a hand to her mouth as she stared at the sun-heated decaying hand laying on the rooftop so casually- almost deceivingly so, it was like the owner of that hand hadn't gone through mind-blowing, self inflicted, but necessary pain. She muttered unintelligibly under her breath as she dropped her hand to her side- her eyes squinted as Daryl paced back and forth like an angry bull.
The grief was etched into his tanned, dirty face. He yelled angrily and his body trembled with anguish of his lost, and now very injured brother. Charlene jumped as Daryl whirled around furiously; he directed his crossbow to T-dog's head. The large man rolled his lips in between his teeth and didn't move.
His dark colored eyes stared defiantly into Daryl's angered ice, cold stare. Charlene went to shove herself in between T-dog and Daryl and then the hunter turned his bow on her. Her eyebrows shot up into her hairline and suddenly rage coursed white hot through her veins. Before she could do anything Rick lifted his gun to Daryl's head.
"I won't hesitate. I don't care if every walker in the city hears it."
Charlene watched as Daryl's breath hitched. His eyes snapped to Rick's- that cold stare searched his body language, trying to find any fault or bluff in the man's words. Rick was completely serious as his finger rested on the trigger. The hunter jerked his crossbow skyward, he watched the sheriff as he lowered his gun true to his word.
Daryl muttered, "You got a do-rag or sumthin'?" As he knelt down with the cloth, Charlene squatted down beside him. She hissed fiercely, "Next time you draw your weapon on me, you best be intendin' to kill me." The woman stood to full height as his eyes followed hers menacingly. He scowled and ignored her warning.
"I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs. Ain't that a bitch." Glenn groaned in disapproval when Daryl shoved the decaying hand in his backpack. He wiped his hands on his pants. He pointed to the blood trail. "He must have used a tourniquet." He looked around the area, before continuing on more to himself than anyone. "Maybe his belt. Be much more blood if he didn't."
"MERLE!" Daryl yelled loudly into the building. Glenn groaned and whispered furiously, "Not so loud!" His complaints were silenced by the hunter's angry glare. He grumbled to himself and evoked a laugh from Charlene- she placed a hand on his back and pushed him forward, "Ain't no big deal, Glenn- Daryl can handle the beasties he draws on his own."
Glenn snorted sarcastically. Charlene recoiled at the smell as they entered the kitchen, "Holy fucking shit." The others groaned in agreement, she started again, "Smells like…-"
"Burnt skin." Rick finished for her grimly. Her eyes caught sight of the flesh on the metal- she curled her lips in disgust.
Daryl pumped his chest proudly, "Told you he was tough. Nobody can kill Merle but Merle."
Charlene smiled in agreement as she wandered around the kitchen. The group moved to the opening and were inspecting the broken window. She examined the blood spatters on the wall with mild interest before she was drawn to the conversation.
"Only if we get those guns first. I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?"
Charlene nodded her head, "Yeah- if we're gonna scour this city we're gonna need to be armed. I'm with T-dog on this one."
"You got some balls chinaman." Daryl muttered as they dropped down the fire escape. Charlene landed lithely and silently- she brought her bow up to her sights when Glenn replied with annoyance. "I'm Korean."
Daryl shrugged, "Whatever."
Charlene nodded to Glenn, "Ready?"
"No."
"Good." Charlene grinned as she jerked the fence open. The young man sprinted past the geeks towards the tank. Their attention was drawn towards him and they began shambling after him. The woman jumped when she heard a yell, "Ayúdame!" Charlene turned to see a kid pressed against the wall with Daryl in his face cussing and trying to clamp a hand over his mouth.
"The fuck?" She moved forward when two large men appeared with bats. She raced forward as Daryl was clocked across his back. One of the men turned to hit her, but stopped short on seeing she was a female. How gentlemanly. His shoulder knocked into the center of her chest, Charlene hit the wall, but rebounded forward aggressively.
She twisted the bat in his grip and brought her knee into his gut furiously. He yelled in pain as she wrenched her elbow into his face and head-butted him for good measure. The Hispanic fell on his ass and she went to lay in another hit when the second one barreled into her and drug his friend along the way.
Charlene felt the air rush out of her as her palms connected with the pavement to prevent her from face planting. She felt the breeze of a bolt fly overhead and strike one of the men in the ass. She couldn't resist the smirk that crossed her face. Her amusement was halted when the men grabbed Glenn.
Charlene scrambled to her feet and chased the men out of the alleyway. Glenn yelled as a car pulled up alongside, "DARYL! CHAR! HELP!"
"Glenn!" Charlene leapt over the hood of the car intending to take out the driver when he floored the vehicle forward. Her body slammed into the windshield and she toppled helplessly over its roof. She could faintly hear Glenn's screams from inside as her body smacked into the hot, blistering pavement.
Her head smacked dizzily into the hard ground, her body ached and her lungs felt as if they had been used as punching bags. She heard metal grating on the concrete and came to nearly as quickly. She stumbled to her feet and shoved a geek to the ground that had been preparing to feast on her.
The beasties surrounded the fence and blocked her escape, T-dog and Rick stared helplessly while Daryl prowled back and forth furiously. "YOU STUPID- FUCK! I TOLD YOU NO MORE GODDAMN HEROICS!"
Charlene wrenched her hatchet from it's sheathe. She lodged the blade deep into the skull of an attacking walker. Her vision flickered ominously as she connected a boot to the chest of the deadened man. The beasts began swarming around her and panic began to rise through her body like a thermometer. She cried out before she could stop herself, "Daryl! I'm scared!"
She whirled quickly, fighting against the geeks as much as she could in her state. The hunter's anger was silenced by her horrified call to him. He wished so desperately to reach for her and pull her out of the harm she was facing alone.
Charlene turned tail and began to do a mixture of a run and stagger up the street. Daryl pounded his fist angrily into the fence, "Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!" He whipped around as the rage returned full force and charged the young man on the ground. Rick moved in between them, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
"I'm gonna stomp your ass!" Daryl yelled over the sheriff's blocking shoulder. The Hispanic jerked in fear and looked up to T-dog who glared down at him. "Ya' know she was a friend, right? Because of your little friends, now we might not ever see her again."
Rick licked his lip as he shoved Daryl back away. "Char's smart- we have to trust she's going to make it through this."
"Man, she just got hit by a damn car, probably has a concussion and from the looks of things we're gonna be spending the night here- what the hell is she gonna do?"
Rick's face paled, he shook his head tentatively. "We just have to hope-"
Daryl growled as he bit into his thumb angrily. "Ain't no use hopin' she's gonna be a'right. We'll use this little prick, go get Glenn, and then we'll go save her stupid ass from wherever place she's got herself stuck in."
Rick didn't look all that convinced, but he nodded his head to calm the two men grating at his sides. They all turned to young kid on the ground; he was sweating profusely and lifted his heads in a surrendering motion. "Ah, guys come on-"
Daryl kicked him. "Shut the fuck up."
Charlene gasped for air as her legs burned angrily. She forced herself on, the moans of the dead pursued tirelessly behind her. She cried in pain and stumbled to her knees as her vision swam before her dangerously. "Ah. God. No." The battered woman pushed herself to her feet and swung violently at the outreach of grasping rotted hands.
Terror gripped her heart as she continued to stagger onwards- a group of at least fifteen followed behind her and continued to grow. A geek stumbled from an alleyway; she swung her hatchet into his skull and wrenched it free in one fluid motion.
Her free hand gripped her aching sides. Her legs continued to move beneath her, fueled purely by determination to not become a little snack for the growing horde behind her. Her head throbbed painfully and she wiped aggressively at her eyes as blood began to dribble into her vision.
Fear and anguish held her body in an adrenaline inducing vice- she was goaded onwards by that shear need to not become someone's lunch- the need to see her brother again- the need to see Glenn and her friends again- the absolutely need to see that jackass again, she owed him a few words of course. Thinks he can tell her what to do. She should shove his crossbow up his ass and be done with it; his head was already shoved so far up there.
Agony ripped through her body as she moved quicker than her mind was ready for. She drove the hatchet into the face of a woman desperately trying to grip her clothes. Charlene jerked herself away from the growing moans of those following her. They shambled as quickly as their rotting legs would allow. She hissed in pain as she forced herself into a quicker jog- her eyes searched the alleyways for fire escapes- and her terror only grew as she realized there was no fucking escape.
To hell with the fucking geeks! She would run until her feet were mere nubs if she had to, she was not going to die being devoured and screaming until her dying breath. Charlene's lip curled and her brow furrowed in sheer determination. Her eyes caught sight of a heavy-duty door and container up ahead.
She shot a glance at her pursuing mob and gritted her teeth as the pain shot through her brain. Charlene pushed her body harder- she was closing the distance rapidly. Her body dove into the opening and she slammed the door behind her aggressively.
To her utter horror she found the door was shut from the outside. She wanted to scream as she pressed her back against it and braced her legs against the metal shelf to provide more power against the door. It jerked against her body weight and crept open, she pushed back angrily and slammed it closed again.
Her body kept being shoved forward and she returned that shove with more aggression each time. Her eyes scanned the mostly darkened room. There were small windows near the roof of the container like building. It was like an ice storage, or meat locker. There was no escape. Dread filled her body as she struggled to keep the door from opening.
Charlene choked back a terrified sob for all those she cared about- She choked back the sob of horror at the awful death she was staring in the face- she so desperately wanted to cry and give her body away. She was just so, so, so tired. Charlene gritted her teeth and pushed back against the opening door valiantly. "Not like this."
The moans of the dead filled her ears as she stared into the darkness of the container. A terrible, rotting smell reached her nostrils as she wiped away the tears of frustration and absolute fear. A moan echoed from within as she saw a man rise from the darkened corner. Her body was washed in anguish as his moans grew louder and he shambled towards her.
His terrible rotted arms extended for his meal. Charlene shook her head as the door was forced open a bit and hands shoved their way into the slight opening. She grasped her hatchet with a grip that rivaled death itself- a grip of determination that shunned the death that was looming in on the young woman. Charlene snarled angrily.
"Come and get me, fuckers."
Hey y'all should check my profile out, the very wonderful Lahey made some super cool banners for the story! :) I always have a photobucket link to a ton of concept pictures if yall are interested as well!
Hot damnnnnn guys! Thanks for the support and reviews! Y'alls thoughts are what keep this story going!
What do y'all think is gonna happen to Charlene? A nice lovely cliffhanger for you guys haha :)
Thank you SO much for reading and reviewing, it's much appreciated!
