Merle watched them for days, sick over what a pansy-ass his brother had become. It made him want to gag. Burning rage began building in him when he saw how Daryl had become so soft with his new group. Daryl needed to learn that you can only trust family.

Merle waited until Katelyn walked out into the courtyard, making sure no one was around, and grabbed her from behind. With his hand covering her mouth and a strong arm around her waist, he dragged her kicking and squirming back behind the building and around the corner toward the shed around the back.

Opening the shed, he dragged Katelyn inside and threw her to the ground.

Katelyn hit the pavement floor, looking up at Merle in surprise. Suddenly terrified, she began screaming as loud as she could. Merle held up his hands in surrender.

"Shh…shh…shh…I ain't gonna hurcha. I was just playin'" Merle smiled but his mouth looked more like a menacing grimace than a smile.

Katelyn stopped for a second before starting to scream again.

Merle was getting desperate. He didn't have much time.

"Come on now. I said I ain't gonna hurcha. Shh. Calm down woman. Jesus!" He growled in frustration lunging for her.

Grabbing her head, he covered her mouth with the palm of his hand, still trying to calm her down.

"Jesus! You act like I'm killin' ya. I just wanna talk." Merle tried reasoning with her and Katelyn stopped screaming.

Realizing that no one could hear her, she tried to take deep breaths to calm herself but she could feel the ringing in her ears begin.

"I just wanna talk." Merle said softly, trying to keep her quiet, as he crouched down in front of her.

Katelyn's eyes were huge as she looked up at Merle in horror. Her breathing was becoming more rapid and she began shaking so badly that even Merle noticed.

"What the hell's wrong with you girl?" Merle swore, irritated at her reaction to him.

Katelyn's mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish but no words came out. Merle was irritated, not sure what was wrong with her.

"You got some sorta medical condition or somethin'?" He asked, realizing that his plan wasn't going to work out the way he wanted it to.

Katelyn started gasping for air like she couldn't breathe and Merle swore.

"Shit! You asthmatic or somethin'? What the hell?" Merle bit out, standing up, pacing in agitation, trying to figure out what to do.

When Merle turned back to help her stand, she scooted away from him frantically. Grabbing ahold of one of the shelves, she pulled herself up and scrambled to the corner, desperately seeking a hiding place. Her chest was heaving with panic and her eyes were starting to see spots.

"Hey! Don't do that! Let's talk about this." Merle was desperate now. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to kill the stupid bitch. He just wanted to get rid of her.

Merle had never seen anyone act like this. It reminded him of an animal with its leg caught in a trap ready to gnaw off its own leg to get away. It was annoying.

Holding up his hands again in a gesture of peace, he tried once again.

"You need to tell me what's goin' on." He tried a placating voice, moving slowly towards her, but she pulled back into the corner, grabbing the shelf to stabilize herself.

Merle watched the color drain from her face and realized that it was serious.

"Shit!" He swore, pissed off that his brother picked such a fucking defective chick. "My brother done fall in love with a retard or somethin'."

Muttering under his breath, Merle lunged for her thinking to grab her and drag her out but Katelyn grabbed a screwdriver and stabbed him in the arm.

Merle shrieked in pain and surprise, pulling his arm back and Katelyn bolted past him. Merle didn't let her get far though, and grabbed her before she could get out the door. Katelyn went wild, her fists striking anything she could land on, her legs kicking and twisting to escape. Her head flew back unconsciously and hit Merle in the face causing stinging tears to blur his vision, but Merle was getting pissed.

Grabbing her by the hair, he shoved her away and started dragging her back into the shed. Determined to make her calm down, he grabbed her arms and shook her until she went limp. Collapsing on the ground in front of him, Merle looked down angrily. Using his foot, he shoved her over onto her back to make sure she was breathing. Her face was pale and Merle was worried that he'd killed her for a second but then saw her chest moving up and down.

"Shit!" Merle swore, trying to figure out how to salvage this problem.

He knew that the minute she woke up, she was gonna rat him out to Daryl and the others and he was screwed. He didn't like committing cold-blooded murder, but he would if he had to. Looking around, Merle found a huge lawn bag. Grabbing it, he spread it out on the ground and then shoved her on top of it with his boot. Rolling the tarp up with her inside of it, he grabbed the bungee cables from the shelf and wrapped them around her, securing her within the tarp. Opening the shed door slightly, he peeked out to make sure that no one was looking.

Grabbing the end of the tarp, he dragged her out and hoisted her over his shoulder. Turning to walk out of the shed, he came face to face with a pissed off Michonne.

Michonne didn't hesitate, swinging her katana straight at him, but Merle threw Katelyn's body straight at Michonne. Pulling her katana back abruptly, Michonne couldn't dodge the body and was knocked to the ground. Merle knew that he couldn't take Michonne without a gun, and was left with only one choice.

He ran.

Michonne jumped to her feet and was going to go after him but was overcome with the thought that he had killed Katelyn. Screaming for Rick and Daryl as loudly as she could, she dropped to her knees beside the tarp and began looking for the ends of the bungee cords.

Fumbling with the cords became too tedious so Michonne sliced the cords with her katana and began unrolling Katelyn from inside the tarp.

Rick, Daryl and the others came running.

Michonne rolled the last of the tarp off of Katelyn, leaving her lying on top of it. Daryl didn't know what was happening but the moment he saw her, he raced toward them.

"It was Merle. He ran." Michonne explained as the panicked Daryl dropped down beside Katelyn's body.

Daryl wasn't listening. He was too busy checking over her body for injuries. Seeing nothing, he finally paid attention to what Michonne was saying.

"What!?" Daryl demanded.

"I was keepin' an eye on your brother. He disappeared so I went to find him. I found him coming out of that shed with her." Michonne said angrily.

Daryl saw red instantly.

Standing up, he started bellowing.

"MERLE! You fucking coward!" Daryl was incensed, not noticing that Rick had moved in to issue orders.

"Tyreese, Michonne, I want you to come with me to look for Merle. The rest of you, get her back to Hershel and take Daryl with you." Rick said, taking off with Michonne leading the way.

"Daryl." Maggie said softly, trying not to upset him further.

Daryl's eyes were red with rage and tears but he looked at her.

"We need to get her back inside." She was trying to speak gently because she knew how upset he was.

Daryl just stared at her furiously before comprehending what she was saying. Looking down as if it just dawned on him, Daryl dropped back to his knees beside her. Pushing her hair from her face, he tried to talk to her.

"Kate?" Daryl said gruffly, his voice raw with emotion. "Katelyn? I need you to wake up."

She didn't move.

Daryl bowed his head, laying it on her chest. His own brother had done this to her.

"Katie." He whispered sorrowfully.

He felt her move her hand and his head shot up to look at her.

"Hey baby." Daryl said quietly, his hands shaking with fury and panic.

Katelyn looked around fearfully. He could tell she was confused and he tried to calm her.

"It's okay. He's gone." He assured her, taking her hand in his.

Struggling to sit up, Daryl helped her but could tell she was still in shock.

"Just take a few deep breaths." He coached, letting her adjust to her surroundings.

Her lips were quivering and she was shaking so hard her teeth were chattering. She started to cry and dragged in a ragged breath, struggling to breathe.

"Slowly." He said softly watching her struggle to breathe.

Lifting her off the ground, Daryl carried her inside, all the while thinking about how he was going to kill his brother.