Today has been super crappy! One of those days where nothing at all seems to go right. It's settled down a bit so I figured I would update before something else happened! I hope you all had a better day than I've had! Thanks for reading! You guys are awesome =)

Chapter Three

Daryl looked up, his hand stalling with a piece of meat in front of his mouth, when Merle stormed into the clearing. His eyes met Daryl's then and he knew that Merle had seen the group in the city. The man was livid. There was one thing that Merle couldn't stand for Daryl to do and that was lie to him. Daryl looked away and tossed the meat into his mouth, chewing dismally.

Merle sat down heavily, turning his head to glare at his brother. "Why the hell didn't you mention that there's a group down there?"

Daryl shrugged.

"You know how low we're getting on supplies? You wanna be caught out here without any fucking ammo? How many groups have we had to fight?"

Daryl turned his head slowly, his own eyes narrowing on Merle's. "Fight? We ain't had to fight off any that I can recollect. How many groups have we raided? Plenty."

Merle scoffed and glanced around at the other men but none of them were paying any attention to the brothers. Merle and Daryl fought a lot. It was something the others were used to. "Either way, we need what those people have."

Daryl felt the ever present dread expand in his chest. He couldn't explain it but somehow he had to make sure that Merle didn't say anything about the other group. "It's a group of women, Merle. Why the hell can't we just leave them be?"

Merle glared at him. "Because they're packin' some pretty heavy artillery and we need what they have."

"It won't end at that and you know it. And you ever think that maybe if they have the weapons, they might just know how to use them? Goddamn, can't we just let people live for once?"

Merle shook his head. "I don't even see how we're related, you know that?"

Daryl shrugged. "You and me both."

"I ain't never done the same type of shit these mother fuckers have done and you know it. Any woman I've been with since we got here, I was with cause they came to me," Merle hissed.

Daryl forced the last of his food down, his appetite lost for now. Merle was right about that. He was a lewd son of a bitch but he wasn't a rapist. The killing, that was a different story. He reveled in the killing. He got this gleam in his eye when he knew that he was about to take a man down. Daryl didn't comment on that, though.

"You still stewin' about leavin'?" Merle asked suddenly.

Daryl grew still, his eyes on the flames. Lightning lit up the sky in a blue white web and then thunder rolled, slow and heavy. He could feel the vibrations in his bones. "Nowhere out there to go," he lied.

"Prison," Merle said, his own eyes following Daryl's.

Daryl shook his head. "We've been through this a thousand times. After what you did to Glenn and Maggie-"

"I didn't touch that little corn fed bitch and as far as Mr. Fugi is concerned, the kid asked for it. All I wanted to do was find you and he wouldn't tell me where the hell you were. What was I suppose to do? Split a fortune cookie with him and tell him all was well? You know better than that shit little brother. I shoulda killed him. He's lucky."

"You tried to kill him, Merle," Daryl pointed out.

Merle shook his head. "If I'd tried to kill him then he'd have been dead. I was just playin' with him."

"Yeah, well, either way, they don't want you around. If I go back to the prison then I go back alone. That and you know as good as I do that as long as I'm here, I can keep these pieces of shit clear of the prison. We're better off this way."

Merle shook his head. "What the hell is it about those stupid fucks that has you so hell bent on savin' their skin?"

"You wouldn't get it. We've been through this before too."

"If we could run them cock suckers out of there that place would be the perfect spot to hole up," Merle grumbled.

Daryl stiffened. This was a constant worry of his. Merle finally getting fed up with being on the road and then letting it slip that he knows of a place. There were twenty five men in this group, all of them as nasty as they came. The prison group wouldn't know what hit them and then that blood would be on Daryl's hands. "Just keep your mouth shut, Merle."

Merle looked at him, the firelight giving his eyes a demonic shine. He smiled slowly. "How about a compromise then, little brother?"

Daryl shook his head.

"Oh yeah. I'm tired of this goddamn good guy shit you're always pullin'. You gotta cut me some slack here. I can tell them exactly where the prison is. I can deliver them right to it."

"Merle," Daryl growled, his teeth clenched.

"Or I tell them there's a couple of broads down there with some nice looking weapons. You can flip a coin if you want, but I'm not goin' empty handed for you anymore. I don't owe nobody a goddamn thing. Rick Grimes especially. I don't owe those women down there a damn thing either. You pick or it's gonna be both."

Daryl stared at the flames. Those people down there in the city had never done him any harm. They were just people trying to survive just like he'd always done. But he wouldn't lead these men to Carol's doorstep. There was no way he'd put her a risk. There wasn't enough good in the world anymore and she was good. He'd never be able to live with himself if she suffered the same fate as some of the other women that he had seen brought to this group. He'd die first.

"Tell them about the group in Atlanta," he said in a low voice, his eyes staying on the flames.

Merle chuckled. "You're too soft little brother. And you're too trustin'."

Daryl turned his head, eying Merle sharply. "Merle..." He wanted to believe that Merle could go on keeping his mouth shut but he knew that Merle was finished lying for him. The man didn't have much of a conscience and he hated the group at the prison. He didn't look at it like a betrayal to Daryl, even though that's exactly what it was.

"Tell me why?"

Daryl shook his head.

"You have yourself a little crush on the good sheriff? He make you feel all safe and loved?" Merle chuckled.

Daryl tensed. "Keep these mother fuckers away from them, Merle or I swear-"

"You left a woman back there, didn't you? We're out here suffering because you found yourself a soft piece and you're protecting her, huh? Well, if she was that damn good she'd be with you right now instead of back there with the good sheriff. You know she's found herself somebody else by now. Am I right?"

Daryl shook his head, refusing to meet Merle's eyes now.

Merle stood up then. "Got some good news boys," he barked, getting the attention of the others quickly. "There's a little group down below that looks like they're packin' too heavy. Might wanna make a trip down there before first light and relieve them of their burden." He glanced back at Daryl. "After that maybe we can have a sit down and talk about a more permanent set up. I ain't the only one that's tired of bein' on the move."

Daryl felt his fists clench. He'd take down every goddamn man in this group to keep them away from that prison. Maybe that's what Merle wanted. Maybe he wanted to push Daryl into doing something drastic. Merle wanted Daryl to be more like him. He wanted to make a "man" of him still, even though he was forty two fucking years old. Until Daryl was as cold and calculating and filled with as much hate as his older brother, his older brother would always consider him a boy. Someone that he felt he needed to take care of.

Daryl knew why Merle was the way he was. Daryl knew that he had suffered the same way Daryl himself had suffered. But the two of them had taken their pain and used it in different ways. Daryl used his like a cloak, keeping himself emotionally distant to others. He hid behind it to protect himself from letting others inside.

Merle's pain was different. His was like a poison. Like a drug. The pain caused Merle to want to inflict it on others. It made him toxic and cold. In Daryl's mind, the way for self preservation was to keep the pain close and use it as a reminder to not let anyone in. Merle took his own pain, spun it inside of himself like yarn, and then distributed it to anyone that gave him the slightest reason.

But it had managed to cost both of them a lot and Daryl was sure that it had cost Merle more. After a while, Daryl had actually learned to trust others. He had learned that not everyone out there was out there to hurt him. He had started trusting people. Merle, though, had never let anyone get inside at all. Even Daryl was held at arms length when it came to Merle. Maybe Merle could have opened up eventually, if he was around the right people. The only problem was, the right people never wanted anything to do with him because he was... Merle. And now more people were going to suffer and it was Merle's fault.

Merle sat back down a few minutes later, having discussed whatever plans with the self proclaimed leaders of the group, and grinned at Daryl. It was like he was challenging him, daring him to say a word. Daryl didn't. He didn't say anything at all.

But he'd come to a decision. He wasn't doing this anymore. He couldn't do this anymore. He was leaving out with the others and he was going to trail after them like Merle expected him to. But then he was out. He wouldn't partake in the slaughter of a group of women. If this was how Merle wanted to live out the rest of his days then that was okay. Daryl had come to terms with it. But he didn't have to. He would go home and he would do whatever he could to make amends. He could brainstorm with Rick and the others and they would be waiting in case this group decided to attack.

But Daryl didn't think they really would attack the prison. Merle wouldn't deliberately put Daryl at risk, no matter how mad he was. Daryl was the only person in the world that had ever given a damn about Merle. Merle liked to say it was the other way around. He liked to tell Daryl that no one other than his own brother gave a shit about him. But that wasn't true. Maybe it was true about Merle but Daryl had people that had his back.

Or he had.

He would come clean once he got back. He would tell Carol everything. If she gave the slightest hint that she still cared about him as much as she had before he had left, then he would tell her the rest. He wouldn't waste anymore time because God knew none of them knew how much time was left.

He stood up and realized that he felt lighter. There was a heavy weight lifted from his shoulders as the decision cemented in his brain. No more of this. No more pretending like he was no better than these sons of bitches because he was better than them. Leagues better than them. His heart was heavy because he would be walking away from his very own blood but Merle hadn't given him much choice. Merle wanted to stay because of how lethal the group was. It was secure, unless one of them tried to kill. No outsider would dare try to take out this group.

But there were more important things out there than security. And Daryl could only hope with everything in him that the group would take him back. That she would take him back.