Chapter Forty Eight
Sophia and Carl sat across from the new boy and watched him eat. She knew it was rude but she'd never seen anyone put food away like that before.
"How long have you been out there alone?" Sophia asked when his plate was finally clean. He downed a glass of water before he answered her.
"I'm not even sure anymore. I was in that house for four days. I can't remember how long it took me to find it. When I heard those guns outside I thought those men found me and were shooting up the place."
"We were lost in the woods too but only for a few nights." Carl muttered.
"We found Merle out there." Sophia explained.
"He the big mean guy?" Duane asked.
"He isn't mean." Sophia snapped and then ducked her head and blushed. "Okay, he is. But he isn't mean to me."
Carol breezed into the room then, followed by Daryl, Rick and T-dog. Sophia slid down in her seat a little as she tried to make herself as small as possible. She hadn't had a talk with her mom yet and she wasn't looking forward to it. It had just made her so mad because Merle really was trying hard and everyone had been yelling and she could feel how tense he had been. He had wanted to knock the crap out of all of them and she just wanted everyone to leave him alone. She still couldn't believe she had talked that way. To a group of grown ups.
The truth was, it wasn't about Merle being good just so Daryl wouldn't have to worry about things anymore. It was about her. Merle said some awful stuff sometimes but she had to admit that she really liked having him around. He was her friend and she cared about him. She had never had an uncle before but she thought that maybe Merle was like an uncle to her now.
She watched warily as her mom took Duane's plate and put her hand on his shoulder. "Did you get enough to eat? There's plenty more if you're still hungry." She said quietly.
He shook his head. "No thank you, ma'am." he said quietly.
Carol looked up from the top of the boys head to Sophia. Sophia shrank down in her seat further and then finally slid out. She was going to go find Merle. Right now he was much safer than her mom. Right before she made it out she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder and she looked up into Daryl's narrowed eyes.
"You're gonna have to deal with eventually, kid. Might as well deal with it right now and get it over with." He said so low that no one else could hear.
She nodded and then glanced back towards the kitchen. Her mom was watching her and then she was walking towards them. Sophia wasn't scared of her mom. She knew she wasn't going to hurt her but the thought of disappointing her was awful and Sophia didn't want her to confirm how disappointed she actually was. She caught Daryl's hand and glanced up.
"It's not gonna be that bad." He whispered right before Carol made it to them.
"We need to talk." Carol said calmly.
Sophia sighed and dropped Daryl's hand and followed her mom out to the porch. It was deserted for the time being and so they settled down on the steps.
"Why did you leave with Merle today? And don't tell me that you and Carl went alone and then were rescued by Merle Dixon. I already know you are smarter than that. You never would have left unless someone was with you." Her voice wasn't angry. Mostly curious.
Sophia sighed. Now Carl was really going to be busted. She had been wrong about Daryl telling Rick on them but there was no way her mom would let this slide. But she had to tell her. She wished she had made up a more believable lie earlier. "Merle was going to teach Carl and I how to use a gun. So we went out and was practicing."
"But that's something that Daryl was going to do with you anyway. Why did you sneak off with Merle?"
She remembered the hurt look on Daryl's face when he had asked her the same thing. It had caused her to hurt right along with him just to know that it was her that had caused it. "The guns we were using were stolen." She said in a quiet voice. "I didn't think Daryl would let me keep it and I really need a gun. Just in case something happens."
"Stolen? Where were they stolen from?" Carol asked.
Sophia turned her head away from her mothers wide blue eyes. "Carl stole them from Rick."
"Sophia! You stole?" Carol was shocked and couldn't hide it from her voice.
"No. I received stolen property. It isn't as bad." She said dully.
"Don't even try that with me. Did you used that line on Merle?" She asked.
Sophia nodded. "Mom, if you tell Rick then Carl is going to be in big trouble and it'll be my fault for telling you guys."
"Carl stole the guns. He needs to be in trouble. He could have talked to his dad and I'm sure Rick would have understood. Instead you both went behind our backs. You ran off with Merle, with stolen guns. Jesus, sweetheart. Where is all this coming from?"
Sophia just shrugged. She didn't have an answer for her. Even she didn't know herself where it was all coming from.
They were both quiet for a while and then Carol moved closer and put her arm around her shoulders. "Now, about what happened earlier."
Sophia groaned. "I didn't mean to say that. It just slipped. But everyone was attacking him without knowing the full story. Even you, and no one would listen to me."
"I guess this is what I get for keeping you around the Dixon brothers with their watchful eyes and their filthy mouths." She gave her a small smile.
"I'm sorry mom. For what I said and for the gun and for sneaking off. If it makes you feel any better I don't have that gun anymore." She said, brightening a bit.
"Not that gun, huh?" Carol eyed her.
Sophia shook her head. "Daryl gave me his. It's the one Merle gave to him when he was sixteen." She left out the part about it being used to kill Daryl's dad. She didn't know if her mom would understand that part the way she did. She knew how much the gun had meant to Daryl and now it meant just as much to her because he had given it to her.
"I have to be able to protect myself, mom. I can't always depend on Daryl and Merle. They can't be with me all the time. And neither can you."
Carol nodded. "Okay. I understand. Keep the gun. But I need to talk to Daryl about whether or not we are going to tell Rick about this."
That gave Sophia hope because Daryl already said he wasn't going to tell him anything.
Carol pulled her in for a hug and she hugged her back tightly. Daryl was right. This wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.
~H~
Merle made his way to the tack room in the barn. He had been thinking about what he would eventually use to cover the stump with once it healed up. Hershel and Milton had told him that he would have to have something because the end of it was always going to be sensitive because of the way he had sawed it off. He grimaced at the memory of it as he looked around. He was thinking about making it as interesting as possible. Maybe add a big blade to the end of it or something. He needed something that screamed Merle Dixon. Something that didn't cause people to look at him and shake their heads in pity. He didn't like the way the old man looked at him. Like he felt sorry for him. No, he needed something that would cause people to want to run away.
"What are you doin'?"
He grinned and turned his head towards the door. "Well, if it ain't little Maggie Greene. Ain't nobody ever taught you it ain't safe to be alone with the big bad Dixon, little girl?"
"What is it with you Dixon's callin' me little girl? I ain't no little girl, ya know." She smirked.
His eyes traveled down the length of her and then he smirked back. "I spose not."
"So, what are you out here lookin' for, Merle?" She glanced around and lifted her chin a few inches. "Maybe I can help."
"And what if I told you I was lookin' for a warm tight space to slip into for about an hour or two, darlin'. You gonna help me out with that?"
He watched her face but her expression never changed. She kept that small smile on her face and then she surprised him by nodding her head. He kept his expression the same but he couldn't do a thing about the blood that was suddenly rushing south.
"I think I can help you out with that, Merle." She said as she took a step closer.
He leaned against the work bench he had been standing in front of and watched her approach him slowly, the sway of her hips was a little exaggerated.
She stopped about a half inch away, close enough for him to feel her body heat. She looked him in the eye and then leaned in like she might actually kiss him. Her head moved at the last second and he felt her lips by his ear.
"You want me to help you, Merle?" She whispered.
"Oh, yeah." He whispered back. Holy shit! She was going to go for it.
"Mmmmkay." She crooned in his ear causing him to tense up a little. "The sheep are kept at the back of the barn big boy. And I'll even keep it our little secret."
Son of a bitch. He couldn't help the laugh that erupted from him but as she went to pull away, chuckling herself at her own joke he grabbed her by the hip with one large hand and yanked her back in place, their bodies pressed together firmly. "You know, that ain't very smart, teasin' like that." He whispered. He grazed his lips down her ear.
She turned her head slightly. "You're a lotta things, Merle. You're mean and you're dangerous. But you don't scare me a bit. Matter of fact I'm startin' to like it."
It could very well have been his imagination, or maybe it was just wishful thinking, but he could have sworn she pressed herself into him a little harder before she backed away with a knowing grin and then turned to leave the room.
Merle watched her go. Staring at her ass the whole time but he didn't say anything. He shook his head and looked around the room. He couldn't even remember what the hell he was doing in here. But he was glad he had came. The farmers daughter had herself a wild streak longer than his own mean streak.
~H~
Daryl stood between Rick and T-dog and stared at the map he had gotten from Hershel the other day. It was spread out over the hood of Ricks SUV.
"So from what Merle says that house was here." Rick pointed to a spot on the map. "But we don't have any way of knowing how long Duane was out there or how far he traveled. So we don't even know where to begin." He ran a hand through his hair and shot a glance towards Daryl. "And you say that group was camped right about here?" He pointed once again at a spot on the map.
Daryl peered down and nodded. "Yeah. But that was days ago. We don't know if they killed the guy or took him or if he got away. This is too big of a job Rick. There were a lot of people in this group and if this Morgan guy got away then where do we start?"
Rick blew out a frustrated breath and raked his hand through his hair again. "I can't just leave without trying to find him. He saved my life."
"Yeah, and if we went out there huntin' for him he could have saved your life for nothin' cause there were too many of them men. We'll all end up dead. And then when they find this place, what's gonna happen to the women?"
"We have assault rifles, a lot of ammo. It wouldn't take many of us to cut down their whole group." Rick said excitedly.
T-dog and Daryl shared a look. T-dog shook his head and looked back towards Rick. "And you think we should just hunt them down and open fire on them? When we don't even know for sure they are the ones that did this to this Morgan guy? And besides that, what if it was some guys from that group. But they have innocent men there too? What if they have their own women and kids? You have to think this out a little better Rick."
Rick just kept staring down at the map. "I have to try to find him." he said stubbornly.
"Count me out, Rick." Daryl said suddenly as he adjusted his bow. He shook his head.
"What?" Rick actually looked pretty surprised that Daryl would refuse to go with him. "You'd just let a man die out there?"
Daryl shook his head. "I didn't say that. But I got more important things right here to protect. So do you. That group finds this place and you got every one of us out in them woods..." He didn't finish his thought.
"We can do this. Half of us can go look for Morgan and the rest can stay back." He suggested.
"I ain't gonna be part of the half that goes." Daryl said, his voice getting low. "And you might wanna reconsider. You'll be takin' half our men that could be used here. And ain't nobody even talked to the old man about givin' us a few more days. As far as we know we have to be out in the mornin'. What you plannin' on doin'? Goin' out tonight. Search the woods in the dark?"
"I'll talk to Hershel." Rick said. He folded up the map and headed back towards the house. Daryl and T-dog watched him go.
"What do you think about this, man?" T-dog asked. He sounded worried.
"I don't like it. I understand he wants to find the guy but chances are they ain't nothin' left to find." Daryl mumbled.
They both headed back to the small camp where the others were gathered, waiting on news of what to expect next.