7
"I have to go tell my parents I'm staying at a friends tonight," she thought out loud, her eyes far away.
"Could just tell 'em the truth," Daryl suggested playfully.
Sadie narrowed her clear blue eyes and smirked. "Mom, Dad, I won't be staying here tonight- I'll be in a dark isolated boxcar with Daryl Dixon."
"Ain't that dark, but I got an oil lamp over there if you want," he offered, defending his boxcar.
She raised her eye brows. "Yeah, telling them about the lamp will make it ok."
Daryl cupped his hands together and gave her a boost out of the car, his shoulders burning the whole time. "You want me to bring anything back?" she called down.
There were many things. Antiseptic ointment. Another clean shirt. More food. A different life. He opted for the food. "Any food your parents wont notice missing is good!" he yelled back up. He heard her footsteps fade away. He stood in the silence for a few seconds, when it was shattered by a scream. He instantly wanted to punch himself. It was almost dark out, why had he sent her back out there by herself? "Sadie!" he screamed.
His eyes darted around the car for something he could climb on the get closer to the door. Not seeing anything, he retreated down the length of the car in preparation to make the exit leap. It was then that he heard the metal clang of a ladder against the car. Merle. Of course. His heard his brother drag the ladder over the car, and let it clatter to the car's floor.
As Merle climbed down, Daryl let him have it. "Where the hell have you been?" he hissed. "Where the fuck have you been," he repeated louder, shoving Merle off the last rung of the ladder. Merle ignored his questions and stared back. Daryl looked at his brothers eyes and realized he was high. "You're pathetic," Daryl shot.
Merle's momentary lapse with reality ended and he faced his brother. He took in Daryl 's beaten up face. "Ain't we both, though?" he said with a chuckle. He passed by Daryl and made a bee line for the backpack. "How you been, little brother," Merle asked distractedly as he pawed through the bag.
"I been better," Daryl said dryly. "Haven't seen you in a while."
"I've been around," Merle said with a shrug. "I stay with Dixie. I stay with Jessica. They all blend together after a while… 'Course," he said with a sneer, "it looks like you're about to discover all that for yourself."
"Why did Sadie scream?"
"She ain't quiet in the woods, Daryl. I got up too close to her and startled her," he replied, rolling his eyes. "Pretty little thing, though. Goddamn!" Merle yelled suddenly, throwing the backpack across the floor. "We've been robbed!"
Daryl dove to the floor and snatched the bag of meth from under the mattress. "Lookin' for this?" He dangled it in front of his brother.
"Give it here," Merle insisted instantly.
Daryl realized this was his chance to make sure Merle heard him. "I want to stay where ever you stay," he said softly.
Merle gave him a skeptical look. "Where I stay ain't any good for you. You're sixteen."
"Well, where I stay ain't any good either," Daryl shot back.
Merle understood what Daryl was saying. He looked at Daryl's black eye. "You gotta fight back," was all he said.
Daryl let out an aggravated yell and threw the drugs at Merle. "I shouldn't have to," he muttered under his breath.
Merle heard him, stepped closer and in an out of character moment put his hand gently on Daryl's shoulder. "All people got to deal with life, little brother. People deal different ways." His eyes dropped to the drugs in his other hand. "Some people got to fight more than others. Some don't even have to fight at all."
Daryl shook his brothers hand from him. "Fuck this."
Merle walked back to the back pack and pulled out the bloody shirt from the night before. "It as bad as it looks?"
"Don't know, why don't you tell me," Daryl said darkly as he began to pull his shirt over his head. "You tell me!" He spun so his back was facing Merle and he heard the back pack fall to the floor.
"Sweet motherfuckin' baby Jesus," Merle let out in a hushed voice. "What'd you do to-"
"Nothing!" Daryl screamed. "I did nothing, I was asleep!" Merle began to say something but Daryl cut him off. "I did nothing the whole time," he ranted angrily. "The whole fucking time."
Merle nodded. "I know. But next time you just gotta do something."
The thought of there being a next time made Daryl want to throw up. "I can't," he said decidedly. "I'm gonna live here. In the boxcar."
Merle shrugged. "Fine by me. Dad probably won't even notice." He turned and climbed back out of the car. "I'll leave you the ladder," he called. "You're gonna need it. I'll bring you some shit for the welts." He turned to go, then paused to yell back down again. "I'll get you some shit, but you can't hide in a goaddamned boxcar for the rest of your stupid life!"
—-
After Merle left Daryl climbed up onto the boxcar with the lantern and a flashlight to wait for Sadie. He toyed with the grim possibility that her parents hadn't let her back out again. He had never had that problem, he thought smugly. He heard a rustle in the dark and flicked on the flashlight. His face cracked into a grin when he saw Sadie in the beam of light. She had on a backpack and was carrying a large duffle bag. She tossed up the bag, and the two maneuvered the ladder.
She climbed down into the car. "This is a great space," she began. "I brought you some things to make it feel even more home-like," she said shyly.
Daryl took this moment to wonder if God was really a woman.
She set the back pack down and began to unpack the duffel bag. She pulled out a set of clean white sheets, a pillow, and a heavy looking purple blanket. Obscenely and obnoxiously purple. "Purple is my favorite color," she explained, slightly embarrassed.
"No one's gonna miss any of this?"
"I said I was staying at Annie's- she's my best friend, by the way, and I wanted to bring my own sheets for the trundle bed. Besides, my own stupid brother, Jesse, he causes enough chaos to keep them occupied-"
"Why?" he interrupted. He looked at her point blank. It was more like a statement than a question. "Why are you doing all of this?"
She shrugged. "Because I think everyone deserves something. Or someone. I don't know."
"You feel bad for me," he accused her.
She looked him square in the eye and he saw a fire that he had never noticed before. As it burned, she took a deep breath. "Yes, I do, Daryl Dixon. I feel bad that you seem like a cool person but have a shitty hand dealt to you. I feel bad that your mom died and left you here." She took a breath to see if he would interrupt her, but he didn't. "I feel bad that you've never really known the levels of love and happiness that I've felt." He started to defend himself, but she continued. "I ain't patronizing you, so don't accuse me," she said cooly. "You hungry?"