Red River Blue
Chapter 7
Merle tossed his pack into the back of the wagon and climbed onto the driver's bench. He kept his rifle next to him while he guided the horses. And a handgun tucked into a holster on his belt. They had a team of six horses. Two of them were rigged up to pull the wagon. The rest of his group were taking turns riding the other four. With only one hand, Merle couldn't hold the reins of a horse and fire a weapon at the same time. So he usually took the job of driving the wagon. River boosted their son up, climbing up behind the boy. She sat the boy between them, hoping there was less of a chance that he would start any trouble that way.
"Can I have a turn on one of the horses?," Axel asked. River nodded.
"If ya sit 'ere and behave yerself and when we stop to water the horses, you can have a turn to ride," River told the boy. He seemed quite agreeable to this compromise. Once she settled herself down next to him, Axel wrapped his arms around River's waist and hugged her tight.
"If we see a walker, can I shoot 'em?," he asked, pulling his gun from his bag and pointing it at a nearby tree.
"With yer bow," Merle said, taking the gun carefully from his son's hands and stuffing it back into his pack. "Guns make too much noise, we only use 'em if we hafta." Axel nodded again, pulling out his crossbow and making sure he had a few bolts ready to go. Merle was hesitant to take the boy on the road with them. Considering his attitude lately, and how he was continuously refusing to listen to either him or River. But so far, Axel was doing better than Merle expected. Either he was old enough to understand that not listening out here could actually cause him or someone else to actually die. Or he was just loving the freedom of being outside the walls so much that he was willing to behave in the hopes that he would be brought along again the next time. Merle wasn't sure the reason, so he decided to just take the boy's sudden change in attitude as a win.
When they left town, they didn't head straight for Hilltop. Instead, they made a stop at their new companions' overrun campsite. This served two purposes. One, they were able to scavenge anything useful that was still there. And two, they were able to corroborate the story these people told about their campsite being overrun. From what Merle could see, these people appeared to be telling the truth. They were clearly living at the site for an extended period of time. And it was obvious that the place was overrun recently. There were still quite a few of the dead shuffling around the place. Mika and Sam had a grand time thundering through on their horses and decapitating the lot of them.
The only information that wasn't accurate was how far the campsite was away from Alexandria. It was much further than Magna thought. It was late in the day by the time they found the place. The small group ended up having to shore the place up for the night and sleep there. When the light of the small fire got low, Axel suddenly developed a terrible fear of the undead. One that could only be cured by sleeping with his mother. So into their sleeping bag he came, stinky unwashed feet and all, to wriggle himself down in between Merle and his wife. River didn't mind. Axel was her baby and if she had her way, the boy would probably still be sleeping in their room. The two of them cuddled right up together like two spoons on edge, with Axel's bony knees and elbows poking directly into Merle's back. Merle thought he ought to be annoyed with his son. But River and Axel looked so sweet cuddled up together, he just covered them up and went to take watch with Tyreese. The two men sat quietly together, passing a joint back and forth between them once they knew that all the younger members of their little caravan were fast asleep.
The night passed uneventfully. Halfway through, Merle and Tyreese woke Beth and Mika up and had them take the early morning watch so the two of them could get a few hours sleep. As soon as the sun started peeking over the horizon, the girls started gearing up the horses and waking everyone up. Beth was excited to see her sister. And the newcomers to the group were eager to see what they hoped would be their new home. They traveled quickly and about the time they would have been rising from bed if they were home at Alexandria, the high walls of Hilltop were already looming up in front of them.
"Open up!," Merle hollered, waving his bad arm towards the gate.
"Uh… who are you?" The young man that was just getting ready to come off night watch was sure these people were not from HIlltop. He looked to his watch partner for guidance but the other young man looked just as confused on what to do as he was.
"Who am I? YOU'RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT WHO I AM!," Merle hollered. "OPEN UP THE FUCKIN' GATE!" Mika snorted out laughter, glancing up at the two young men and weighing their looks in comparison to how stupid she thought they were. The more attractive young man appeared to also be the dumber of the two.
The less attractive young man looked at the other, reminding him that they were supposed to ask any strangers what they were doing at Hilltop before they just let them in.
"What's your business here?," the young man asked.
"BUSINESS? DO I LOOK LIKE A TRAVELING FUCKIN' SALESMAN? GET GLENN OUT HERE RIGHT NOW, YOU STUPID FUCKIN' TARDS!," Merle ordered. By this time, River was laughing so hard she was ready to fall out of the wagon. Beth swung her leg and climbed down off her horse. The gate moved a little and she was hoping the young man that disappeared from sight was opening it for them. But there was no such luck. The gate only swung open far enough for the small boy that was pushing on it to peek his head out. The young man that Merle was cursing at hollered at the boy to stay inside the gates. But Hershel was already squeezing through the narrow gap. Once he wedged his body through the gate, he ran for Beth.
"Aunt Beth!," he cried, letting her swing him up into her arms for a hug. He climbed up onto the wagon next, crawling over River to get to Axel. The two boys hugged. Hershel stared at the people in the back of the wagon curiously.
"Who you got back there?," he asked. Axel shrugged.
"Just some random assholes that Judith and Monroe brought to town. My dad's gonna pawn 'em off on her dad 'cause he said he ain't got time to babysit their asses."
Axel's rude declaration brought on a loud round of laughter from Tyreese. Merle certainly had a way with words. And nothing was funnier than hearing the man's son repeat the rude things he said at the worst possible times. Hershel took one more look at the small group of strangers. They didn't look particularly interesting to him. He had more important things on his mind.
"One of our barn cats had kittens," Hershel announced. "And now that their eyes are opened up, my momma said if we're gentle we can hold 'em and play with 'em so they'll be friendly. Wanna see?"
The promise of a cute bunch of kittens was enough to propel Axel down from the wagon. He and Hershel squeezed their small bodies back through the gate, and took off inside. River thought about yelling at her son and making him wait for the gates to be opened before he took off. But she knew it was already a lost cause. And she knew nothing bad would happen to the boy inside Hilltop.
It only took a few more minutes before the tall gates swung open. Merle guided the wagon inside. Mika and Sam swung down from their horses. Magna was riding on the back of their other horse. But she remained seated, not sure if she was ready to get too comfortable in this new place yet. And she could see more from on top of the horse. Despite their initial issue of the gate not being opened right away, the people that lived in this new town did seem to know the people that brought her group here. A few had friendly waves or a smile for them. Before long, an asian man with scruffy facial hair and a wrinkled shirt was heading in their direction. He had a little girl with him that looked only slightly younger than the boy that came out through the crack in the gate.
"Hey stranger," River teased, leaping down and letting the man snatch her up into a warm hug.
"Alright Glenn," Merle announced, turning and pointing at Magna, Yumiko, and Kelly. "I got three perfectly serviceable sex slaves for you here. And I expected top dollar fer 'em." He turned and gestured towards Connie, who was trying to keep an eye on him and look at what her sister was signing to her at the same time. "This one's some kinda retard so you can have her for half price."
Magna felt a ball of horrible fear surge up inside her. But that only lasted a moment. She knew immediately from the shocked reactions of everyone around the man, that she was not about to be sold into sex slavery. This asshole just thought he was some sort of comedian. His wife was already apologizing to everyone while most of the rest of his friends tried not to laugh. Tyreese leaned forward and rabbit punched him in the arm, making him laugh even harder.
"Merle!," Glenn lamented. He scrubbed at his face, trying to keep his expression serious. "That joke wasn't funny the last time you told it. It's not funny now. It's never funny!"
Connie climbed to her feet in the back of the wagon and stepped forward, tapping Merle on his shoulder. Once she had his attention, she thrust her middle finger directly into his face. Just in case he wasn't sure what that gesture meant, Kelly thought she might as well translate it for him.
"Fuck you!"